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AUCTION BRIDGE 
IN TEN LESSONS 

by 

ELLA G. PIMM 



Harper & Brothers, Publishers 
New York and London 












Ruction Bridge in Ten Lessons 


Copyright, 1923 
By Harper & Brothers 
Printed iA the U.S.A. 


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“Auction Bridge in Ten Lessons” 


by 

ELLA G. PIMM 

Index to Contents 

part i 

Page 

Introduction..5 

Lesson 1. General Principles. Bidding No 
Trumps. - - - - 7 

Lesson 2. An Initial major suit bid. - 13 

Lesson 3. An Initial minor suit bid. - 17 

Lesson 4. Supporting the partner or chang¬ 
ing the suit. - - 22 

Lesson 5. Opposition bidding. 27 

Lesson 6. The lead. - - 31 

Lesson 7. Playing to score. Doubling. 

Returning a lead. - 37 

Lesson 8. How to play a No Trump, hand. 41 
Lesson 9. How to play a suit declaration. 

The Eleven Rule. - - - - 46 

Lesson 10. How to finesse. Covering an 

honor. Discards. 51 


3 


PART n 


Page 

1. The Pre-emptive bid.The choice between 

two suits of equal value. 57 

2. Conventional Doubles 61 

% 

3. Calling No Trumps on two suits. 

“Marking time” with a minor suit. - 65 

4. Calling “two” as an initial bid. The 

art of finessing..70 

5. The No Trump rescue abandoned. 

The partner doubled. - - 77 

6. Raising one’s partner without oppo¬ 
sition. False-carding. Refusing to take 
a trick. Partner’s suit twice overcalled 

by opponent’s No Trump. 80 

7. * Counting the Discards. 87 

8. The lead “emphatic.” Leading 

through opponent’s guarded queen. - 91 

9. Opposition play. Taking out Dummy’s 

Re-entries. ------ 95 

10. Establishing a long suit. Playing to 

rule..99 

The Laws of Auction Bridge. - - 103 


4 


Introduction 


This book has been written in two parts—the first 
part for the beginner and the second for the more 
advanced player, so it is to the beginner that I will 
first address myself. 

My experience has been that the beginner, 
really anxious to play Bridge, is often deterred un¬ 
necessarily at the beginning of his labors. 

He either dips into the middle of an advanced 
book on the subject, and, after reading a few 
pages, decides he is quite unequal to mastering the 
game, or he reads a book through from start to 
finish at one sitting, and then, after playing a few 
times, is entirely discouraged by the results of his 
performance. 

I would therefore strongly advise the genuine 
beginner to read only one chapter of this book at a 
time; and to practise between each chapter ac¬ 
cording to the instructions given. 

After studying the ten lessons he should play 
the game to make himself familiar with handling 
the cards, and after a week or so, when he is 
sufficiently sure of himself, he should read the 
second part of the book. 

The writer’s object has been to appeal to his 
reader’s common-sense, and as this virtue will 


5 


AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


always be required of the Bridge player, if he is to 
become expert at the game, there are included 
herein no pages of statistics, or table of leads, that 
the reader is required to learn by heart. 

Beyond common-sense he will only need ex¬ 
perience; and no book can give him that. 

It is taken for granted that the beginner has 
studied the rules of Auction Bridge (included in 
this book), or that he has been able to watch the 
game in progress, and has, by either means, been 
able to form a rough idea of how the game is played, 
Viz.:—that there are four players, and that the 
whole pack is used, etc., etc. 

From that point the beginner is to be assisted 
to an intelligent understanding of the game. 

As the observations in the second part of this 
book are based upon the principles laid down in 
the first part, the more advanced player is invited 
to consider this book as a whole. 

I am indebted to the New York Whist Club, 
for permission to publish their code of rules, which 
is here given in full. 


G 



AUCTION BRIDGE.IN TEN LESSONS 


Lesson 1 

The reader will have noticed from the fact 
that the suits have different values, that, with legi¬ 
timate strength, it is easier to make game with one 
suit as trumps than it is with another, and still easier 
to make game with no trumps at all. 

As it takes four tricks (with the score at love) 
to make the game in SPADES or HEARTS, and 
five tricks in DIAMONDS or CLUBS, the former 
are called Major suits, and the latter Minor suits. 

In this consideration of the suits lies the value 
of an unhampered, or “initial” bid. 

Your initial bid gives your partner your idea 

of the shortest and easiest way towards game. 

If you call “No Trumps” you give him a defin¬ 
ite idea of the value of your hand in general strength. 

If you call “one Spade” or “one Heart” you 
imply to him the minimum number you hold of the 
suit that you are declaring trumps, and the rela¬ 
tive strength of those trumps. 

To give him correct information in this initial 
bid is of the utmost importance; he will make his 
plans for the hand accordingly. 


7 




AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


It is difficult to obtain game in a Minor suit; 
and, for this reason, if you bid one DIAMOND or 
one CLUB, you are really, if you are an expert bid¬ 
der, suggesting to your partner that with the assist¬ 
ance you give him in your Minor suit, if he is 
legitimately able to change the bid to something 
more profitable he will find your hand useful as a 
Dummy hand; in other words you are advising 
him how he will be able to play the hand if he is 
able to secure the declaration with a Major suit, or 
No Trumps. 

The beginner is asked to let this idea si \k into 
his mind and there to take root, as many a player 
makes a bid of “one” in a Minor suit with no such 
meaning or intention, and again and again is re¬ 
corded the heavy penalty to which the first bad 
Minor suit bid may be attributed. 

It is necessary now to go into details, so that 
the inexperienced player shall, with the aid of 
common sense, be able to value his hand. 

The No Trump Hand 

If it were possible for each of the four players 
to have a normal hand, the pack of fifty-two cards 
would be so divided that each player would have 
one card of each denomination, viz.:—one ace, one 
king, one queen, and so on. 


8 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


We will now consider the four players as 
sitting in this wise at the table in all our examples:— 


Y 

A B 
Z 


Z and Y, as partners, would have as good a chance 
to get half of the thirteen tricks as A and B, * 
with normal hands. 

They would, if such a thing were possible, be 
capable of taking 3J4 tricks each. 

If, therefore, Z, as dealer, has a hand slightly 
above the average he naturally looks upon his 
chances, with the aid of his partner’s hand, as being 
favorable to his taking more than half the 13 tricks. 

Supposing his hand contains an ACE, a KING, 
a QUEEN, a JACK, and a ten, and, we will say, an 
extra queen, so assorted as to guard three suits, he 
will consider the extra queen (which by the law of 
averages should belong to someone else’s hand) 
gives him the right to assume that he and 
his partner can make at least seven tricks in 
No Trumps (the “ book ” of six tricks, and one more) 
instead of the tricks to which with normal 
hands they should be entitled. 


9 





AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


Such a hand is considered a minimum ONE 
NO TRUMP hand:— 

Example:— 

SPADES—Ace, Queen, 3, 2. 

HEARTS—King, 10, 9. 

DIAMONDS—Queen, Jack, 8, 7. 

CLUBS—4, 2. 

Later on it will be necessary to go more min¬ 
utely into the taking powers of these cards, and to 
advise the partner of the original NO TRUMP 
Declarer how to estimate the strenglh of the hand 
which he holds, and which may become Dummy; 
but at present I want the beginner to recognise 
immediately a “NO TRUMPER” when it is dealt 
to him. 

The above illustration, as you will note, con¬ 
tains a queen above a normal hand and three suits 
are guarded—that is to say the opponents are 
unlikely to have the control of more than the club 
suit, and the partner’s hand may be able to protect 
that. 

It is, of course, not necessary to have precisely 
one of each of the five high cards (or Honors) and 
an extra queen, but the hand, to be a sound “NO 
TRUMPER,” must have strength equivalent to 
that. 


10 




AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


Here are other examples:— 

(1) SPADES—7. 

HEARTS—Jack, 10, 9, 8. 

DIAMONDS—King, Jack, 10, 7. 

CLUBS—Ace, King, 5, 2. 

(2) SPADES—9, 5. 

HEARTS—Queen, 10, 8. 

DIAMONDS—Ace, King, 4, 3. 

CLUBS—Ace, 9, 3, 2. 

These are considered “light” NO TRUMP- 
ERS, and the writer has specially given these 
illustrations so that the beginner shall not be afraid 
to call NO Trumps when he has a hand to justify 
such a bid. 

There is no doubt that a really good Major 
suit is a better game-making proposition than a 
doubtful NO TRUMP, but, as these early chapters 
are not to be considered the last word on the subject, 
the reader will, with experience, gradually acquire 
judgment if he reads attentively and practises 
conscientiously. 


Practise 1 

The reader is asked to spend a little time 
studying 13 cards at a time, without of course 
attempting to play them. 


11 




AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


He should deal the pack into four hands, and 
carefully study each hand until he is able to re¬ 
cognise a “NO TRUMPER” with ease and con¬ 
fidence, disregarding any other bid. 

When quite satisfied on this point he may 
proceed to the next chapter. 


12 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


Lesson 2 

An Initial Major Suit Bid 

If, on being dealt your 13 cards, you find upon 
examining them that they do not answer the 
requirements of a NOTRUMPER, you naturally 
wish to make the next best call of a Major suit if 
possible. 

To make a bid of ONE SPADE or ONE 
HEART it has been proved by long experience 
that you must guarantee to your partner that you 
expect easily to control the suit, that is to say that 
your suit is headed by one of the two highest 
honors, that it is supported by at least one other 
honor, and that it comprises at least five cards. 

The only circumstances in which you would be 
justified in making an initial bid in a Major suit, 
holding less than five cards of the suit, would be 
when you hold four honors alone, or Ace, King, 
Queen, and one other card. 

If you, as initial bidder, make a sound bid 
of ONE in a Major suit, your partner will be able 
to tell at a glance whether the two hands combined 
are longer, and in all probability stronger, than the 
opponent’s in that particular suit—he can support 
your bid with confidence if his hand justifies it, 
or change the declaration if he thinks it advisable. 


13 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


As in the previous lesson on calling NO 
TRUMPS, the taking-powers of the hand making 
the initial MAJOR suit bid are estimated as being 
increased from the 3J4 tricks of the normal hand 
to at least 4 tricks. 

The bid also gives the partner the information 
that if he sees fit to bid NO TRUMPS, which 
would be an improvement of bid, the Declarer 
has the control of at least the suit he has named. 

As every initial bid should be a “shot” for the 
game, between the two partners there should be 
perfect confidence and mutual trust. 

If A and B play together A must never make a 
bid that will mislead B, and B must feel secure in 
that. 

If B, as partner, looks at his hand and sees 
two ACES, besides two cards of the MAJOR 
suit his partner has named, he must know at once 
that he and his partner predominate in that 
MAJOR suit; and his consideration will then be 
only as to whether he will support in the MAJOR 
suit, or whether it will be profitable to improve the 
bid into NO TRUMPS, taking all his other cards 
into consideration. 

As the reader is presumably at the elementary 
stages of the game, it is inadvisable as yet to make 


14 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


many calls upon his judgment, but a few examples 
will here be of value. 

You will notice that the following hands do 
not answer the requirements of a NO TRUMPER, 
but they will give sound information to the partner 
as to the strength of the Major suit named. 

(1) . SPADES—Ace, Queen, 10, 8, 3. 

HEARTS—Jack, 5. 

DIAMONDS—King, Jack, 10, 4. 

CLUBS—9, 8. 

Bid one Spade. 

(2) . SPADES—9, 2. 

HEARTS—King, Jack, 10, 4, 2. 
DIAMONDS—10, 9, 8. 

CLUBS—Ace, Queen, 9. 

Bid one Heart. 

(3) . SPADES—Ace, King, Queen, 9. 

HEARTS—9, 8, 4. 

DIAMONDS—King, Jack, 8, 3. 

CLUBS—Jack, 2. 

Bid one Spade. 

As your partner, unless he has an unusual 
hand, is not at all likely to “back-bid” (that is to 
say go into a MINOR suit after your declaration 


15 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


of a MAJOR one), these bids should be of very great 
value to him, and he will build his hopes for the 
hand upon the soundness of your judgment. 

Practise 2 

The reader is advised to deal the pack into 
four hands as before, and then to study each 
hand separately with a view to discovering NO 
TRUMPERS and MAJOR suit bids among them. 


1C 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


Lesson 3 

An Initial Minor Suit Bid 

If the cards dealt do not justify you in making 
a NO TRUMP or a MAJOR suit bid, and if the 
score stands at nothing in your favor, your con¬ 
sideration must be to what extent your hand 
would be useful to your partner if you call a Minor 
suit and he is able to alter the bid to something 
more profitable. 

To the writer’s mind this is the most im¬ 
portant point as regards sound bidding, and it 
seems to be understood only by a small proportion 
of players. Consider, for example, the following 
hand:— 

SPADES—Queen, 10, 3. 

HEARTS—10, 9, 4. 

DIAMONDS—King, Jack, 10, 3, 2. 

CLUBS—9, 8. 

If you make a bid of ONE DIAMOND 
with this hand it would be very doubtful if 
your partner, changing to a more profitable bid 
and using your hand as the Dummy, would be 
able to make use of the cards in it; or if the hand 


17 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


would give him the necessary two tricks he would 
expect from it to secure the contract. 

He might have the ACE or QUEEN of 
DIAMONDS himself, but there is no reason why 
you should count upon it, or make' that circum¬ 
stance a necessity. 

It is sounder, therefore, for the initial Minor 
call to signify a request for an improvement of bid. 

The difference between making four tricks in a 
MAJOR suit and five tricks in a MINOR suit, to 
secure the game, is so material that MAJOR and 
MINOR suit bidding must be clearly understood. 

There are authorities who claim that MAJOR 
and MINOR suits should have the same require¬ 
ments as to length and strength. 

Their argument is that the suits thus bid are 
equally effective in disturbing an opponent’s NO 
TRUMPER. 

This argument would be sound if the com¬ 
bination of the opponents’ hands is invariably to 
be looked upon as a potential NO TRUMP bid; 
but experience teaches us that a Major suit is 
often more profitable to the opponents than calling 
NO TRUMPS, and to call One Diamond on the 
above hand might serve to guide them to Spades 
or Hearts, as the case might be. 

What is more important, perhaps, is that the 


18 




AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


argument overlooks the fact that the sound initial 
bid is one that is “out for game,” and not a de¬ 
fensive call. 

If you bid a Major suit your partner may use 
his discretion and improve the bid into NO 
TRUMPS, but if you bid a Minor suit he may 
improve the bid into a Major suit or NO TRUMPS, 
and you should be prepared for him to do either. 

The following hands would be suitable for a 
bid of ONE in a Minor suit, because, if your 
partner improves the bid he will not be disappointed 
in the strength of your hand. He may in some cases 
be a little disappointed in the Minor suit itself, but 
he will be compensated by the strength you hold 
in other directions. 

You will not at any time be inducing your 
partner to make a bacj bid, but you will be ad¬ 
vising him, before he has sight of your hand, how 
he will be likely to play the Dummy if he is able to 
secure the declaration with his own bid. 

Such a bid is of inestimable value. 

(1). SPADES—9, 6. 

HEARTS—10, 8, 4. 

DIAMONDS—Ace, King, 10, 3, 2. 

CLUBS—King, Jack, 4. 

Bid One Diamond, 

19 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


(2) . SPADES—Ace, 4, 3. 

HEARTS—Queen, 10, 9. 

DIAMONDS—4, 3. 

CLUBS—King, Jack, 10, 3, 2. 

Bid One Club. 

(3) . SPADES—King, 9. 

HEARTS—7, 3, 2. 

DIAMONDS—10, 9, 8, 2. 

CLUBS—Ace, King, Queen, 3. 

Bid One Club. 

The writer is anxious to avoid statistics, which 
are usually a source of terror to the beginner, 
but it can easily be shown that a very small per¬ 
centage of games are won, from love, on an original 
Minor suit bid of One. 

On the other hand straining after NO 
TRUMPS has lost many a good game that might 
have been made in a Major suit, and the expert 
Minor suit bidder must, when bidding, say to 
himself 4 ‘is this bid going to help my partner 
should he change my bid either to a Major suit 
or to No Trumps, and play this hand as the 
Dummy?” 


20 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


Practise 3 

Deal out your pack as before and look first 
for a No Trump bid, then for a Major suit bid, and 
lastly discover if there is a Minor suit bid in the 
four hands. 

Study these in any order, without any attempt 
to bid the suits against each other as at an Auction. 


21 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


Lesson 4 

Supporting the Partner or Changing Suit 

We will now imagine that the Declarer Z has 
made a bid and has been overbid by A (the player 
on his left) in this wise:— 


Spades, Queen, 4. 

Hearts—Ace, Queen, 10 
4, 3. 

Diamonds—9. 6. 

Clubs—Ace, Jack, 6. 6. 

(A bids "2 Hearts”) 


Y 

A B 
Z 


Spades—Ace, King, 10, 3, 2, 
Hearts—9, 7. 

Diamonds—King, Jack, 4. 
Clubs—10, 8, 7. 

(Z bids “ 1 Spade.”) 


It is important for Y, the partner of Z, to know 
—if the bidding is to be scientifically continued— 
what support is expected from his hand if he raises 
his partner to a bid of 2 Spades. 

It is recognised by all leading authorities that 
the sound initial bidder of One NO TRUMPS, 
or ONE of a Major suit, values the trick-making 
powers of his hand at not less than four tricks. 


22 




AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


It is also recognized that playing the two 
hands (Declarer’s and Dummy’s) is such an 
advantage as to be worth a clear trick. 

This leaves the Dummy as being required to 
make two tricks to enable the Declarer to secure his 
contract. 

Y then, on viewing his cards, is aware that if 
his hand is to be the Dummy it must contain two 
tricks in order that Z may secure his original con- 
' tract of ONE SPADE. 

If Y is to raise the bid to TWO SPADES, his 
hand, obviously, should contain three TRICKS. 

It is difficult for the beginner to appreciate 
what card is likely to take a trick, and what is 
not, but if he can grasp the rudiments of sound 
bidding, play and study will gradually help him 
over this difficulty. 

We will now imagine that Y holds the following 
hand:— 


Spades—Jack, 9. 

Hearts—Jack, 8, 6. 

Diamonds—Ace, Queen, 8, 2. 
Clubs—King, Queen, 5, 3. 


Y 

A B 

Z 


23 




AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


Y will consider that in all probability his hand 
will take tricks, either with the Ace and Queen of 
Diamonds, and one of the honors in Clubs, or that 
it will take tricks with both the honors in Clubs 
and not with the Queen of Diamonds. 

This, in either case would make the hand, as 
the Dummy, worth three tricks. 

Y notices also that he only holds two cards 
of the suit that his partner has declared trumps, 
but he knows that the two cards he does hold will 
probably be sufficient for Trump-clearing pur¬ 
poses, as his partner will have made a sound bid on 
Five Spades headed by two Honors, or else on four 
cards headed by ACE, KING, QUEEN. 

Y therefore raises the bid to “2 Spades,” 
and thereby gives his partner the information that 
he considers the hand worth 3 tricks. 

If the King of Clubs were missing from Y’s 
hand he would not be justified in raising the bid and 
giving his partner to understand that he holds 
three tricks; although with luck the hand might 
contain that number of tricks. 

During tht first round of the bidding your 
bids must be perfectly sound and you must not 
count on good luck in the distribution of the cards 
to pull you through. 


24 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


Supposing, now, Y cannot give support in 
Z’s initial bid, but has a perfectly sound bid in some 
other suit or in NO TRUMPS, it is very im¬ 
portant that Y gives that information to Z as soon 
as possible, so that they will not be bidding at cross 
purposes. 

We will imagine Z to have called as before, and 
Y to have the following hand:— 

Spades—7. 

Hearts—King, Jack, 8, 6. 

Diamonds—Ace, Queen, 8, 2. 

Clubs—King, 5, 3, 2. 


Y 

A B 
Z 


As Y is by no means sure that he and his 
partner Z predominate in Spades it would be wise 
for him to give notice of that to Z at the first 
opportunity. 

As he is able in the above hand to protect the 
adversaries’ declared suit of Hearts he has nothing 
to fear, and has every reason to feel confident in 
changing the bid to “2 NO TRUMPS,” and he 
gives his partner useful information. 


25 





AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


Practise 4 

Deal out the cards as before and attempt 
to bid the hands against each other as Z and Y 
versus A and B, the dealer Z making the first 
declaration. 


26 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


Lesson 5 

Opposition Bidding 

t 

Having discussed initial, or unhampered, bids, 
it is necessary to consider the position of the second 
hand after his opponent has made a declaration. 

It is very important, if the opponents are to 
make the best use of their strength, that the 
second hand should declare his suit whenever 
possible, but, as his call is a “forced” one, his 
partner cannot expect the bid to have exactly the 
requirements of an initial bid. 

If the dealer calls NO TRUMPS and the 
second hand has the complete control of a Minor 
suit only, he will “pass” for two reasons:— 

1. If he bids his Minor suit his bid is very 
unlikely to stand, and the opponents will 
probably change from NO TRUMPS into 
a more profitable Major suit. 

2. If the bid of NO TRUMPS made by his 
opponent should stand, he, the second hand, 
will have the lead, and by leading out his 
set Minor suit he may defeat his opponent’s 
NO TRUMPER, or, at any rate, prevent 
him from making game. 


27 



AU CTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESS O N S 

j 

The second hand would therefore “pass” 
with either of the two following hands:— 

(1) . SPADES—9, 8. 

HEARTS—7, 6, 3. 

DIAMONDS—Ace, King, Queen, 9, 8, 7. 

CLUBS—Jack, 10. 

(2) . SPADES—9, 8, 4. 

HEARTS—7, 6, 3. 

DIAMONDS—King, Queen, Jack, 9, 8, 7. 

CLUBS—Ace. 

In the latter hand A as leader would play out 
his King of Diamonds in order to clear away the 
Ace of Diamonds, and would then hope to regain 
the lead with his Ace of Clubs, his object being to 
continue making tricks with his established Dia¬ 
monds. 

If, however, the second bidder has a hand that 
does not answer this description, but which might 
either gain the declaration or prove a useful op¬ 
position, he should make a call whenever possible, 
as he will probably not have an opportunity of 
calling on the second round of the bidding. 

By calling a suit he still tells his partner that 
he holds five cards of the suit he names, and that 


28 






AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


they are cards either as good as would be expected 
of them were the bid an initial one, or that they are 
strongly supported by another suit. 

As the subject of conventional bidding is left 
to the second part of this book the writer has carried 
the point of 2nd-hand bidding as far as is desirable 
at this stage. 

The beginner must remember that the second 
player having the lead is a very important factor 
in the science of 2nd-hand bidding, and op¬ 
position bidding must be made both with a view to 
defeating the ends of the initial bidder and to secur¬ 
ing a material advantage to the second and fourth 
hand players. 

Do not therefore frighten an opponent out of a 
light NO TRUMPER by warning him of the fact 
that you hold a strong Minor suit: because he 
may change to a valuable suit bid afterwards; but, 
if your opponents name a suit and you hold a 
NO TRUMPER, and are not afraid of the suit 
named, then call NO TRUMPS at once, and 
thereby give your partner the useful information 
that you hold the opponents’ suit guarded. 

This is a most important point, as the op¬ 
ponents are more than likely to open the play with 
the suit that one of them has bid, and if you be¬ 
come the Declarer you must be prepared for them 
to do so. 


29 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


Practise 5 

Deal out the following hands and study the 
bidding of them, making Z, as usual, open the 
bidding:— 


Spades—Queen, 10, 8, 3. 
Hearts—Aee, 3, 2. 
Diamonds—9, 7, 6. 
Clubs—Jack, 5, 4. 


Spades—King, Jack. 
Hearts—King, Jack, 10, 
9, 8. 

Diamonds—10, 5, 4, 3. 
Clubs—Queen, 2. 


Spades—9, 7, 5, 4 , 2. 
Hearts—7, 6. 

Diamonds—Queen, Jack, 2. 
Clubs—King, 8, 7. 


Y 

A B 
Z 


Spades—Ace, 6. 

Hearts—Queen, 5, 4. 
Diamonds—Ace, King, 8. 
Clubs—Ace, 10, 9, 6. 3. 


Spades—9, 5. 

Hearts—Ace, King, 9, 8, 3, 2. 
Diamonds—7, 6, 4. 

Clubs—6, 3. 


Spades—8, 7, 6. 

Hearts—Queen.J 10,*4. 
Diamonds—Queen, Jack. 
Clubs—King, Queen, 9, 7,5. 



Spades—Queen, 4, 3, 2. 
Hearts—Jack. 6, 5. 
Diamonds—Ace, 9, 8, 3, 2. 

Clubs—Jack. 


Spades—Ace, King, Jack, 10. 
Hearts—7. 

Diamonds—King, 10, a. 
Clubs—Ace, 10, 8, 4, 2. 


30 










AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


Lesson 6 

The Lead 

As the rudiments of sound bidding have now 
been lightly dwelt upon, it is time to consider how 
the Declarer’s opponents can make the best use 
of their opposition. 

We will, as usual, take Z to be the Declarer and 
A the leader:— 


Y 

A B 
Z 


If A, during the bidding, has been able to 
declare a suit, he has given a certain amount of 

i 

useful information to B. 

If B has been able to support his partner in 
that suit, further information will have been 
gained. 

If B bid a suit, and not A, A will have an idea 
of the strength of that suit in B’s hand, and if Z 
be playing a NO TRUMPER it would certainly 
suggest a possible point of vulnerability in Z’s hand. 


31 




AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


As experience teaches us that it is usually 
better for B to have his suit led to him by A, than 
for A to lead his own best and longest suit, we 
generally find that A will lead the suit B first 
mentioned during the bidding. 

If B did not bid, then A must fall back upon 
his o,wn best and longest suit, and lead from that. 

Now, as to the quality of the card that A 
shall lead:— 

If A is to lead B’s suit, B is anxious to know 
what chances he has of making tricks in the suit. 
A therefore usually leads the best card he holds of 
.B’s suit, to give him information. 

We will say A leads the Jack of Hearts, as B 
mentioned Hearts during the bidding—the winning 
declaration being “Spades” played by Z. 


Spades— 

Hearts—King, 4, 3, 2. 
Diamonds— 

Clubs— 


A leads the Jack of 
Hearts 



Spades— 

Hearts—Ace, 10, 9, 8, 7. 
Diamonds— 

Clubs— 


If the Jack is A’s best Heart, whatever Z 
plays out of the Dummy-hand (Y) it will be 


32 




AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


necessary for B to put on his Ace of Hearts to 
win the trick, as Z, the 4th hand in play, must be 
holding the Queen of Hearts. 

In the event of B not having been able to call 
a suit during the bidding A must do the next best 
thing, and that is to lead from his own longest 
suit. 

Without discussing any knotty points at this 
stage, and rigorously avoiding “tables of leads,” 
we want the reader to use his common-sense, and 
give his careful attention to the following points:— 

When the suit of four or five cards to be led 
from does not contain the two honors Ace and 
King, or any three honors of the suit in sequence, 
the safest lead is the 4th-best card, counting from 
the top, of the longest suit, thus:— 

HEARTS—King, 10, 6, 5. Lead the 5. 
or * . 

HEARTS—Queen, 9, 8, 4, 2. Lead the 4. 

That, as a general principle, is quite sound. 

(There is an odd sequence lead which might 
here be referred to, and that is when the lead is to 
come from King, Jack, 10. In this case the correct 
lead is the Jack.) 

If the suit is decidedly strong in length, and 
is headed by a sequence of two honors, in order to 
attempt to establish the suit quickly, an honor 
must be led:— 


33 




AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 

HEARTS—King, Queen, 10, 3, 2. 

In this case, as there is a sequence of two 
cards at the head of a 5-card suit, the King should 
be led being the top of the sequence, hoping that 
the length of the suit will enable it to be cleared in 
two rounds. Take again the following hand:— 

HEARTS—Ace, King, 5, 2. 

It would not do to wait until the second and 
third rounds to make the Ace and King, as the 
opponents might possibly be trumping the suit by 
that time, so from the above hand the King should 
be led. 

If B , as partner, sees A’s King of Hearts take 
the trick he will reasonably suppose that A also 
holds the Ace. A may not wish immediately to 
continue with his Ace of Hearts, but in the mean¬ 
time he has given useful information to B. 

We will now suppose, instead of such cards, 
that A has three honors in sequence:— 

HEARTS—Queen, Jack, 10, 2. 

If A lead out his Queen of Hearts his partner 
cannot imagine it to be his 4th-best of the suit, as 
that is impossible—it is therefore a “sequence 
lead.” 

If A lead thus the top of his sequence he is. 
telling B that he has the cards immediately below 


34 




AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


it, and that he is trying to get the cards above the 
Queen out of the way, in order that he may “estab¬ 
lish” or “make good” his suit. 

B therefore will be able to look at Y’s (the 
Dummy’s) hand, and his own also; and he will 
know what important cards, if any, in the Heart 
suit, Z is holding. 

These three simple rules are therefore safe to 
guide the beginner through the earlier stages of 
leading:— 

1. Lead the best card you hold of your part¬ 
ner’s suit if you have one. 

2. Failing your partner having bid, lead the 
4th-best of your own longest suit, unless 
the suit contains three honors. 

3. If your own suit contains a sequence of three 
honors lead the top of the sequence. 

If A finds his best suit is the one that Z has 
declared trumps he would usually be very unwise 
to lead from it, as he holds a strong position 
“sitting over” Z’s trumps. 

If his trumps are losing trumps and there is 
nothing better for A to do he might experiment 
with a lead from a short suit, thereby showing his 
partner he is ready to trump in that suit. 

If his short suit consists of two cards only he 
would lead the higher of the two cards first, but 


35 




AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 

such a lead is usually considered to be “faute de 
mieux,” and only on occasion good policy. 

Practise 6 

Deal out the following hands and consider what 
your opening lead, in the circumstances, would 
be:— 

(1) . SPADES—Ace, 4, 3, 2. 

HEARTS—Queen, 9, 7. 

DIAMONDS—Queen, Jack, 10, 5, 2. 

CLUBS—10. 

Opponent declares No Trumps. Partner has not 

bid. 

(2) . SPADES—Queen, Jack, 8, 2. 

HEARTS—10, 2. 

DIAMONDS—Jack, 3, 2. 

CLUBS—Ace, King, 4, 2. 

Opponent declares Hearts. Partner has not bid. 

I 

(3) . SPADES—Queen, 2. 

HEARTS—10, 9, 7, 2. 

DIAMONDS—Jack, 9, 3. 

CLUBS—King, Queen, 10, 2 
Opponent declares NO TRUMPS. Partner bid 

Spades. 


36 




AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


Lesson 7 

Playing to Score. Doubling. Returning 

Partner’s Lead 

It is important to remember that all four 
players should be “playing to the score.” 

If Z is the Declarer he plays his hand, jointly 
with Y’s, with a view to securing the game, and if 
he get the declaration, A and B play their op¬ 
position hands with a view to preventing Z from 
obtaining his object. 

In bidding, or in playing, this point must not 
be lost sight of; and if A or B see that by playing 
out certain cards they can stop Z from scoring 
game, then they should play those cards, although, 
by waiting for the suit to be led by Z, they might 
gain an extra trick. 

Correct bidding on the part of one’s partner, 
and being able to see the Dummy-hand on the 
table, greatly assist the intelligent player to 
visualize the Declarer’s hand. 

If the Declarer is suspected of holding certain 
important cards the opponents by their scientific 
play may be able to find means of making those 
important cards useless. 


37 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


They should always know the state of the score 
and for that reason not less than two scoring blocks 
should be used at the table. 

It is very provoking to hear one’s partner say, 
when the opponents are adding up their points, 
“Oh! I could have saved that rubber, but I did 
not know they were ten points up on the game.” 

Doubling 

As Auction Bridge is now played there is less 
doubling of the opponents’ contracts than there 
used to be—at least this is so when everyone at 
the table understands the game and does not 
indulge in wild calling. 

“Flying the flag” with defeat clearly in view 
should be resorted to only when a small loss in the 
honor column is preferable to the certain game of 
the opponents. 

As a general principle a double of a contract 
of more than one in a suit should not be made 
unless the Doubler is sure, from his own hand and 
his partner’s bidding, that the opponents cannot 
switch off into another suit and so evade him. It 
would be no use for A to double “3 Clubs” if Z or 
Y could change, after the double, to, say, “3 
Hearts.” 


38 





AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


The double itself might be quite sound, but the 
sequel might spell disaster. 

Many players indulge in what is called a “free 
double,” (that is to say that the contract would 
secure game for the opponents in any case) without 
any sound argument to support the double. This 
is a foolish policy unless the likelihood of defeating 
the opponents is based on scientific deduction, as 
the Declarer’s score would, in the event of success, 
be increased above and below the line; and also 
because the double itself may give the Declarer 
very useful information as to the position of certain 
cards, whereas the concealed strength might have 
been his undoing. 

It is so usual an occurrence to secure a contract 
of “4 Spades,” or “4 Hearts,” that a double of such 
a contract is inexcusable if made solely on the 
ground that it is a “free double.” 

The bidding alone should be the guide as to 
the advisability of a double. 

Returning Partner’s Lead 

If A , as Leader, lead from his own best suit 
in the first trick, he is giving some useful information 
to B. 


39 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


A and B may possibly not be able to win that 
first trick, but the fact must not be overlooked that 
A has strength in the suit. 

In the first trick B will have done his best to 
win the trick, and, if he subsequently gain the lead, 
he will usually be wise to return a card of the suit 
that A originally led. A will be expecting him to 
do this, and his suit may by that time be established 
and ready to take tricks. 

If B has a suit that promises better results 
he may lead that suit instead; but, unless he feels 
very sure on this point, he will do well to return 
the highest card he holds of A’s suit, to strengthen 
A’s position; and also to inform A what cards 
(Dummy being on the table) Z, the Declarer, holds 
in the suit. 


Practise 7 

Study the following hand:— 


Spades—King, 4 
Hearts—Queen, 9, 5 
Diamonds,—10, 9, 8, 4 
Clubs—Ace, 9, 7, 3 


Y 

A B 
Z 


Z opened the bidding with “2 Hearts,” A and 
Y passed, and B declared ”2 NO TRUMPS.” 

Z now declares “3 Hearts,” what should A do? 


40 





AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 

Lesson 8 

How To Play a No Trump Hand 

When the Declarer plays a NO TRUMP 
hand he must give particular attention to the 
suit in which the opponents first make their attack. 
They may have announced their suit in the bid¬ 
ding, in which case either the Declarer or his part¬ 
ner (now the Dummy) has responded that the suit 
is guarded by being able to call NO TRUMPS 
over it. 

If the opponents have called or not they will 
open with an attack upon what they hope will 
prove to be Z’s weakest point, and they will pro¬ 
bably persist in their attack in that direction. 

The Declarer therefore, directly the opening 
card is played, will look at his own cards and the 
Dummy’s, and will consider how he may best 
“hold up” and protect the suit led, and be pre¬ 
pared for another attack in it when the opponents 
have an opportunity to lead. 

With practise the Declarer will be able to see 
ahead to the end of the hand, and if matters take a 
very unexpected turn he will be able after a second’s 
thought to alter his plan of campaign. 

Have, therefore, a good look at the Dummy, 
and make your plans after the opening lead. If the 


41 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


Declarer secure the first trick he should usually set 
to work immediately to establish, or make good, 
his own best and longest suit. He must lead his 
longest suit with a view to clearing quickly 
the high cards that are against him, thereby making 
his smaller cards in the suit take tricks. • 

It is usually best to keep to one suit and clear 
it, in preference to changing the suits and establish¬ 
ing no one completely. 

The Declarer, as a rule, will not be content 
with just taking the tricks that he can see staring 
him in the face and abandoning the rest of the 
cards to their fate; but, unless he has reason to be 
extremely afraid of the length of the opponents’ 
suit, he will persevere in leading his suits that 
require establishing. 

We will now study the following hand. 

Z plays No Trumps, unchallenged:— 

Spades—8, 6, 4, 2. 

Hearts—9, 5, 4. 

Diamonds—Ace. 5, 4. 

Clubs—Jack, 4. 2. 


A leads the 8 of 
Hearts 


Y 

A B 
Z 


B puts on the Jack 
of Hearts 


Spades—Ace, King, 3. 

Hearts—Ace, 7, 3, 2, 
Diamonds—4. 

Clubs—King, Queen, 10, 9, 3. 


42 




AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


If Z considers that the 8 of Hearts is A’s 4 th- 
best of the suit (B not having bid) and if he con¬ 
siders also that there are altogether seven Hearts 
in Z’s and Y’s combined hands, he is not afraid 
of A making many tricks in the Heart suit, but he 
would be decidedly ill at ease if they changed the 
suit and opened-the Diamonds against him instead, 
and if the Ace of Diamonds, his only valuable card 
were taken away from a suit that is so short. 

Z therefore puts on his Ace of Hearts at 
4th-hand, takes the trick, and immediately leads 
the 3 of Clubs from his own hand, knowing that 
the Jack of Clubs in the Dummy will force out the 
opponents’ Ace. 

If the opponents will not give up their Ace on 
that trick Z will continue to play Clubs until they 
do. 

The Heart suit may then “come in,” but Z 
surmizes it will not run far, and, as he holds the 
Ace of Diamonds intact, and his Club suit is 
established he is afraid of nothing and will pro¬ 
bably take nine tricks and game. 

Care must be taken in playing a NO TRUMP 
hand to avoid “blocking” a suit, that is to say 


43 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 

keeping high cards in the hand that is shortest 
in the suit. In the above hand if the King and 
Queen of Clubs were cleared first from Z’s hand, 
Dummy would take the 3rd round with the Jack, 
and, having no more Clubs to lead, his suit would 
be blocked. The Jack is therefore disposed of first, 
leaving the strength of the suit intact in the longest 
hand. 

If there is any bidding the player of the NO 
TRUMP hand will probably have some idea of the 
position of certain cards, or at any rate of certain 
strength, and his correct deductions may give him 
the means of securing the game which he other¬ 
wise might lose. 

After some practice and earnest concentration 
the beginner will no longer play a NO TRUMP 
hand as a scramble from start to finish, but he will 
become familiar with the possibilities of the com¬ 
bined hands, and will be able to protect himself 
against his opponents. 


44 




AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


Practise 8 


Z declares NO TRUMPS and plays the hand. 
A leads the King of Hearts. 

Make Z’s plans for the hand. 


Spades—Queen, 10, 2 
Hearts—10, 5, 3, 2 
Diamonds—Jack, 5, 2 
Clubs—King, 9, 3 


A leads the 
King of Hearts 


Y 

A B 
Z 


Spades—Jack, 9, 3 
Hearts—Ace, 4 

Diamonds—King, Queen, 9, 8, 2 
Clubs—Queen, 10, 2 


45 




AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


Lesson 9 

How To Play A Suit Declaration 

The tactics of the Declarer at a Trump game 
are slightly different from those he. employs when 
there are no trumps. 

If the Declarer intends to use his plain suits 
to the best advantage he must first be sure that the 
opponents are not in a position to trump those 
suits; as his good established cards would then be 
wasted. 

As the Declarer and the Dummy usually 
predominate in trumps it will be wise for the 
Declarer to “clear” his trump suit, and thereby 
disarm his opponents—after that he will retain any 
trumps left in his own hand, or in the Dummy, for 
the purpose of trumping his opponents’ best cards 
as soon as he is in a position to do so; and he will 
then establish his own plain suits. 

We will say that Z is playing a hand in Hearts, 
and holds, with Dummy, the following trumps:— 

Hearts —Jack, 3. 


Y 

A B 
Z 


Hearts—Ace, King, 8, 5, 4. 

46 




AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


As there are six trumps out against Z he will 
lead out his Ace and his King and clear two rounds 
of trumps. As the Queen is very unlikely to have 
fallen on these first two tricks, and, even if it 
did, the 10 and 9 would not have fallen, Z will lead 
a third round with the 4 of Hearts hoping to extract 
two trumps from his opponents, and thereby 
“clean up” the suit, leaving in his own hand the 
remaining two trumps for future “ruffing” pur¬ 
poses. 

It is true that at the 3rd trick the Queen in 
the opponents’ hand would make in any case, but 
the Declarer wishes to prevent both the Queen and 
the opponents’ other small card making separately. 

That is the general principle in clearing the 
trump suit, and the usual explanation offered when 
the Declarer does not at the first opportunity 
clear his trumps is that the Dummy is short in a 
plain suit, and that the Declarer intends to 
utilize Dummy’s trumps first, by putting them 
on his losing cards of that suit. 

This is of course a great advantage to Z, as 
he will be making his trumps in the two hands 
separately, but these tactics should usually only 
be resorted to when Dummy has losing trumps. 

If Z has a short suit in Dummy’s hand, and 
another short suit in his own, he is in a still better 


47 




AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


position, as he can lead the two short suits al¬ 
ternately, and what is called “double-ruff.” 

Z is usually able to tell whether A’s opening 
lead is a genuine 4th-best, or a sequence-lead, by 
looking at his own and Dummy’s cards. If the 
lead does not appear to Z to be either of those two 
accepted leads he surmises that A is leading a short 
suit with the intention of ruffing the suit if B is 
later able to return it to him. 

Z will therefore draw trumps as soon as 
possible to prevent A from obtaining his object. 

The Eleven Rule 

We will now suggest to the reader the use that 
both Z and B may make of their knowledge that A 
is leading his 4th-best. 

We will imagine Z to be playing Spades as 
trumps, and that A leads the 8 of Hearts:— 

Spades—Jack, 4. 

Hearts—Ace, 10, 2. 

Diamonds— 

Clubs— 


A leads 8 of 
Hearts 


Y 

A B 
Z 


Spades—Ace, Queen, 10, 3, 2. 
Hearts—Queen, 5, 3. 
Diamonds— 

Clubs— 


48 




AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


As Z has only six Hearts in the two hands, and 
as B did not declare Hearts during the bidding, it 
would seem to Z that A is not leading from a short 
suit with the purpose of ruffing later, but that he is 
leading a genuine 4th-best. 

If, therefore, the 8 isA’s 4th-best of the suit 
the strength of his Hearts must be King, Jack, 
9, 8, as the other important Hearts are in sight. 
If this is so, it is obvious that the 10 in Dummy, 
will be sufficient to take the trick, and that B will 
not be able to over-play it. 

Z may get this answer quickly by what is 
called 4 ‘the eleven rule”—he takes the number 
of pips on the card led (if it is a 4th-best) and 
subtracts that number from eleven, to ascertain 
how many cards in that suit are against the 

Leader. In the above hand he subtracts 8 (the 

< 

leading card) from eleven, and obtains the answer 3. 

He looks for three cards in his own hand and 
the Dummy, and on this occasion is able to see 
them all; thereby knowing that B can hold no 
Hearts to beat the 8 led, and that the 10 in Dummy 
can take the trick. If Z cannot see all the cards 
that are against the leading card he will know how 
many above it B is holding, and sometimes he is 
able to tell just what B’s higher cards are. 


49 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


If, therefore, the leading card is a 4th-best 
the Declarer and B should both apply the eleven 
rule and ascertain their position as to the suit. 

Each player should try to count and visualize 
the cards in his opponents’hands—there is so much 
information given in bidding and in leads that the 
honor must fall to the man who makes the soundest 
deductions, who plays a difficult winning hand 
successfully, or who plays a losing hand with the 
soundest opposition. 

Practise 9 

How should Z plan to play the following hand 
in Spades, after no opposition bidding, the Jack of 
Clubs being led by A? 

Spades—King. 

Hearts—King, 10, 4 , 2. 

Diamonds—10, 9, 8, 5. 

Clubs—Aee, 8, 5, 4. 


A leads Jack of 
Clubs 



Spades—Ace, Queen, 10, 3, 2 
Hearts—Jack. 

Diamonds—Ace, King, 2. 
Clubs—10, 9. 7. 3. 


50 







AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


Lesson 10 

How To Finesse. Covering an Honor 

To “finesse” is to attempt to win a trick with 
a card which is neither the best of the suit, nor the 
best that the player is holding of the suit, thus:— 

Hearts—Ace, Queen, 3. 


Y 

A B 
Z 


Hearts—9, 5. 

Z leads the five of Hearts, A puts on a small 
card, and Z plays the Queen from the Dummy, 
hoping that A is holding the King, and by these 
means he will make both Ace and Queen. 

The result of a finesse should be that no harm 
is done if the finesse fails, but that an extra trick 
is gained if the finesse succeeds. 


51 





AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 

Suppose Z to be playing the following cards, 
it will be necessary for him to get the lead into the 
Dummy’s hand and play Hearts from there:— 

Hearts—8, 3, 2. 


Y 

A B 
Z 


Hearts—King, Jack, fO, 4. 

Z will lead the 2 of Hearts from the Dummy * 
and, if B plays low, he will put on his Jack or 10 
hoping that B is holding the Queen and that A 
will have to play the Ace at 4th-hand to take the 
trick—the King and 10 will then be left in a 
winning position over B’s Queen. 

This finesse should, with an even chance, 
promise some definite advantage—it is “some¬ 
thing to nothing.” 

Suppose Z to hold the following cards:— 

Hearts—Ace, Queen, 10, 9, 2. 


Y 

A B 
Z 


Hearts—Jack, 4. 

52 





AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


By leading the Jack from his hand Z can 
discover with very great advantage at the first 
trick the position of the King. If the Jack take the 
first trick, after A has played a small card and Z 
has finessed by playing the 2 from the Dummy, 
then Z reasonably supposes that A is holding the 
missing King, and he has the advantage of leading 
again out of his own hand, and again finessing 
against the hidden King. 

The question of finessing must be decided by 
the advantages or disadvantages that may go with 
it, and the Declarer must at all times exercise his 
judgment. 

Covering An Honor 

There is a very sound maxim at Auction 
Bridge, and that is—“cover an honor with an 
honor.” 

This is not merely an arbitrary rule, and the 
beginner should fully understand why, if he is 
second in hand, and an honor is led, he is expected 
to over-play with an honor, often clearly seeing 


53 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


that his card is not going to take the trick, and 
that the Dummy is in a position to beat it. 

We will say Z leads the Jack of Hearts:— 

Hearts—Acc, Uueen, 4, 2. 


Y 

A B 

Z ' 

i_I 

Hearts—Jack, 7, 3. 


It is quite evident that if A holds the King of 
Hearts and refuses to play it on the Jack led, that 
Zwill finesse and make his Jack on the first trick, 
and that the second and third tricks will be made 
with the Ace and Queen over A’s discovered King. 

Z will therefore make all three tricks. 

If, however, A cover the Jack led with his 
King, Z will have to put up the Ace from the 
Dummy and thereby play two of his honors on 
one trick—the Queen will take the second trick, 
and the third trick may go to either A or B, A 
thereby having saved the trick by his play at 
trick 1. 

Even if A has not the 10 in his hand Tor the 
third trick, his partner B may have it, and as his 
King is lost anyway on account of the approaching 


54 







AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


finesse, he puts up his King to save the 10 of 
Hearts that may possibly be lying in his partner’s 
hand. 

Whatever the threatened finesse may be, if 
it is to Ace, Queen, or to King, Jack, the honor 
led should be covered on the same principle—a 
trick may be gained by covering it, and a trick is 
almost surely lost by refusing to do so. 

Discards 

As a general rule when a player has to 
play to a trick and cannot follow suit, and either 
cannot or does not wish to trump, he discards some 
card that he can most easily dispense with from 
his hand. His partner, in watching his discard, will 
conclude that such a discarded card betokens a 
weak suit; and, if he have an opportunity later to 
lead, he will lead a suit from which his partner did 
not discard. 

If the player have a chance of discarding 
twice and have two useless suits to discard from, he 
may give further information to his partner. 

If the discard were to be made from the 
strongest suit, to give information, it would often 
happen that after the discard the strong suit would 
be very materially weakened, therefore most 


55 





AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


expert players discard from weakness—discarding 
“what you least want” will be found to be sound 
in principle and in practice. 

The beginner is urged to go over these lessons 
very carefully and to be quite sure of himself, by 
the study of them and by actual practice, before 
going on to the next chapters. 

It is possible to learn from a book, and these 
lessons have been graduated for the reader with that 
idea in view. 

Answers to the lesson-practices have not been 
given, because with a little thought they should 
be quite obvious to the reader of the lessons. 


5G 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


PART II 

(1) The Pre-emptive Bid 

When Auction Bridge first came to be generally 
played no one thought of making an initial bid 
that required the Declarer to make more tricks 
than he was absolutely obliged—the bidding crept 
up slowly, and very often the Declarer, although 
he was confident of three tricks in a Major suit 
at his opening bid, was gradually pushed by his 
opponents into a bid of four, often suffering defeat 
thereby. 

The expert pre-emptive bidder now values 
his entire hand at the first bid, counts his tricks 
carefully, adding two tricks that he expects to 
find in his partner’s hand, and if his strength be in a 
Major suit (or is probable game in a Minor suit) 
he “bids his limit.” 

The advantages of such a bid are great if 
used with judgment. 

1. The bid may prevent the opponents dis¬ 
covering superior strength in their own 
hands. 

2. The bid may push the opponents into a 
higher contract than they can secure, and 
this may produce a double from the De¬ 
clarer’s partner. 


57 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


3. The bid tells the Declarer’s partner just 
how much is expected from his hand to 
insure the contract, and he can 4 ‘pass” or 
“raise” with confidence. 

Take such a hand as the following:— 

SPADES—8, 7. 

HEARTS—King, Queen, Jack, 9, 8, 7. 

DIAMONDS—Ace, King, 2. 

CLUBS—10, 3. 

If the opening bid were “ONE HEART” 
the opponents have the opportunity of consulting, 
by their bidding, on the question of game in 
Spades, with Club support for the second suit. 

If. however, the Declarer count as “good” 
five of his six Hearts, and if he count also his Ace 
and King of Diamonds, and, in addition to this, 
he add the two tricks he expects to find in his 
partner’s hand, then he will discover he has nine 
tricks in all, and he may open the bidding with a 
pre-emptive call of “3 Hearts,” and thereby 
possibly save himself from being pushed to a call 
of “4.” 

The Declarer’s partner will know that, as 
usual, two tricks are expected from his hand—the 
opponents may gamble on a bid of “3 Spades” 
or “4 Clubs,” and may possibly find a sound double 
from the Declarer’s partner. 

oS 






AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


A pre-emptive bid generally means that the 
bidder is afraid of a winning hand against him, and 
that he is protecting himself. 

A sound pre-emptive bid places the opponents 
in an awkward position. 

In valuing the hand for a pre-emptive bid, 
trumps are not the only consideration—as a rule 
there should be a strong Minor suit to support, 
that can take tricks directly trumps are drawn. 

If the second suit be a Major suit the im¬ 
portance of making a pre-emptive bid is not so 
great, as the opponents are not so likely to be able 
to secure the declaration. 

The Choice Between Two Suits of Equal 

Value 

VVe will suppose that the Declarer has such 
a hand as the following:— 

SPADES—King, Queen, 10, 8, 4. 

HEARTS—Ace, King, 5, 3, 2. 

DIAMONDS—4, 2. 

CLUBS—10. 

In such a case, when the choice is between 
two suits of equal value, from a declaring point of 
view, the suit of highest scoring value should be 
named first: and if there is opposition and the bid 


59 





AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


comes again to the Declarer, he should name his 
second suit of lower value, so that his partner 
may then choose between the two suits, without 
having to increase the contract. 

We will say Z opens with “1 Spade,” the 
opponents bid a Minor suit, and Z has to bid 
again. He calls “2 Hearts” and his partner is then 
in a position to change uie bid to ”2 Spades,” 
if he prefers that suit of the two mentioned. 

If the Declarer had called Hearts first the 
partner would, in the second round of the bidding, 
be forced into a call of ”3 Hearts,” if he preferred 
that suit; and the extra trick contracted for might 
result in a penalty above the line. 


60 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


Conventional Doubles 

There are two kinds of doubles—the “ positive ” 
and the “negative.” 

The positive double is made with the. intention 
of increasing the score of the doubler and his 
partner. 

The negative double is an “informatory ” 
call—it is intended to suggest to the doubler’s 
partner that another bid would be advantageous, 
and he is expected to respond (unless the inter¬ 
mediate player bids) with another call, however 
weak his hand may he. 

The negative double, as expounded by Mr. 
W. C. Whitehead, is one of the most important 
features of modern bidding, and it is necessary, in 
order not to misuse this convention, to understand 
fully when to apply it. 

Any double of one, two, or three of a suit, if 
made at first opportunity , and if doubler’s partner 
has not yet hid , or doubled , is to be recognized as 
a “negative” double. The negative double of 
No Trumps is only applicable in the case of a 
bid of “one” 

! 

In order to make full use of this double it 
should be clearly understood that if a player 
negatively doubles a Heart bid, that he is pre- 


61 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


pared for a possibly weak Spade bid from his 
partner, and vice versa. The sound negative 
doubler is always doubling in the hope of securing 
game for himself and his partner, so that a partner 
with a major suit of four cards, however small, 
is expected to respond with a bid in that suit if 
his partner negatively doubles the other major 
suit. If he has two definite stops in the suit that 
his partner is doubling he may use his judgment 
in the matter of calling No Trumps, or if he is 
very strong in the doubled suit he may use his 
judgment about leaving in the double. 

At no time is weakness an excuse for leaving 
in a negative double. If a player adversely doubles, 
and the intervening player rebids the suit, the 
doubler’s partner is, of course released from the 
obligation to “take out” (and if he voluntarily 
bids, at this point, he is showing more than ex¬ 
pected strength in the suit he names); but if the 
suit is again doubled, and the double comes round 
to the doubler’s partner, it is incumbent upon him 
to take out the double. 

For example:—Z (dealer) “1 Club”—A 
“Double”—Y “Two Clubs”—B “No Bid”—Z 
“No Bid”—A “Double”—Y “No Bid.”—B must 
take out A’s double. 


62 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


Here is a hand that will illustrate the doubling 
of an adverse bid made on the right: 


Spades—7, 6. 

Hearts—Jack, 9, 8. 

Diamonds—King, 2. 

Clubs—Ace, King, Queen, 10, 3, 2. 



Spades—Ace, King, 4, 2. 

Hearts—King, Queen, 3, 2. 

Diamonds—Queen, Jack, 8, 7. 

Clubs—4. 

Bidding:—Z “One No Trump”—A “No Bid”—Y 
“No Bid”—B “Two Clubs” (calling a lead from 
his partner) Z “Double.” 

Y is expected to “take out” on a major suit, 
if he holds four of such suit, however small. 

It may sometimes happen that the doubler’s 
partner has a hand in which his best suit is, say, four 
of the opponents’ trump suit, headed by the “8.” 
He may be obliged to call on a three-card suit, and 
the doubler must remember this in making his 
double, and have his strength evenly distributed. 

A Double of “One No Trump” 

This double is made when the doubler also 
has a No Trump—when he considers an over-bid 
of “2 No Trumps” as unlikely to result in game, 


63 





AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


and when he wishes his partner to, call his best suit 
and play the doubling hand as Dummy. 

Expert opinion is somewhat divided on the 
question as to whether it is better to double the 
call of One No Trump, in this case, or to call “ 2 No 
Trumps” over it and play the hand. 

The writer would suggest that those who have 
made a practise of calling “2 No Trumps” over a 
bid of One, and have made a success of this bid, 
have been playing against players not quite as 
strong as themselves. 

The expert player knows, after a few cards 
are played, whether his opponents are rather 
weaker than himself, and he can take chances that 
he will not take if up against players as strong as 
himself. 

The soundest bid, the writer considers, is the 
double of One No Trump in this case, though the 
other call has a sporting element that is very 
attractive to many players. 

It is true that the forced call of the doubler’s 
partner gives no solid information, but it affords a 
little help, and it is always possible for the doubler 
to go into No Trumps, if he thinks it advisable, 
on the second round of the bidding. 


64 




AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


( 3 ) Calling No Trumps On Two Suits 

It is not advisable for any but experienced 
players to call No Trumps on two suits, with the 
other two unguarded—such a hand may prove too 
difficult in play for a beginner, and sound judgment 
is required in the bidding of it. 

If, however, a practised player find himself 
with a hand up to No Trump strength—that is 
to say, holding the value of a Queen above a normal 
hand (see page 9) and such a hand consists of a 
solid Minor suit of not less than five cards, and an 
outside Ace—or if it consists of two shorter but 
powerful suits—such a hand is a No Trumper. 

Take for instance the following hand:— 

SPADES—Ace, 2. 

HEARTS—10, 4, 3. 

DIAMONDS—Ace, King, Queen, 10, 4. 
CLUBS—9, 7, 6. 

The argument is that if the opponents hold a 
very strong suit of Spades or Hearts they will in 
all probability mention it—if the Dummy cannot 
guard that suit, at any rate the Declarer has been 
warned, and he can make an opposition bid in his 
Diamond suit. 

It is more than probable that Dummy will be 
able to guard either the Heart or the Club suit, 


65 





* U C T I O N BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


and even if the opponents do not bid, but play out 
one of these suits, the Declarer will nearly always 
find the result more profitable than calling Dia¬ 
monds in the first place. 

Of course if the solid strength lie in a Major 
suit the Declarer would call the suit in preference 
to No Trumps. 

It is quite permissible to call No Trumps with 
a hand containing three bare Aces—the hand as a 
playing proposition is certainly worth more than 
the 334 tricks of a normal hand (see page 9) 
and if the Dummy is not equal to supplying the 
three tricks required of him—the playing of the 
hand being worth a trick to the Declarer—then the 
opponents are pretty sure to be in a position to bid, 
as any “double of One” is looked upon as a con¬ 
ventional bid. 

As Bridge was played many years ago, it was 
considered hardly etiquette to interfere very 
much with one’s partner’s bid—one sometimes even 
now hears an old-fashioned player mutter, as he 
puts down his Dummy hand—“Well! I suppose 
you want the bid, partner, but I have a splendid 
suit of Hearts here.” 

At the end of such a hand, when the partners 
have missed getting game, they think of “what 
might have been.” 


66 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


It is, therefore, usual, with the expert players oi 
to-day, when the Declarer makes a bid highly 
unsatisfactory to his partner, for his partner to 
change the bid, if the change appears to tend to¬ 
wards game, and give information thereby. 

The leader, with a hand to beat the Declarer, 
had a good chance in the old days by hanging back 
in the bidding, but the idea now of sitting quiet 
and allowing the opponents to make fools of them¬ 
selves is entirely out of date, because the Declarer’s 
partner will, if he sees fit, assert himself. 

In the last illustrated hand, if the Declarer’s 
partner has a solid suit of Clubs, and the score 
stands at Love, he will leave the Declarer’s bid of 
No Trumps alone, because the Clubs will be useful; 
but if he has a strong suit of Spades or Hearts 
he will bid them. 

With such a 2-suit hand, then, there is little 
to fear—the most vital point is not to make a bid 
that will mislead your partner. 

The above remarks lead up to the question of 
‘‘marking time” for your partner with a Minor 
suit bid, against opposition, arid what such a bid 
reasonably signifies. 


67 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


We will suppose Z calls No Trumps, A calls 2 
Spades, and Y calls 3 Diamonds:— 


Y 

A B 
Z 


Spades—Ace, 2. 

Hearts—King, 10, 3, 2. 

Diamonds—Jack, 4. 

Clubs—Ace, Jack, 10, 4, 3. 

If Y were to see probable Game in Diamonds 
in his own hand, he should have “jumped the bid” 
to show this, by calling 4 Diamonds—his bid of 3 
Diamonds must therefore mean “I am sorry I 
cannot guard the Spade suit, partner, but I hold 
the winning Diamonds if you are able to go back 
to No Trumps. 

Such “marking time” with a Minor suit is 
reasonable and profitable, but if the Dummy, 
after his bid, put down five Diamonds headed by 
the King, Queen, he is answerable for defeat if it 
comes. 

If Z starts the bidding and tells Y he has a 
No Trumper, it is not required of Y to make a 
defensive call at 3rd-hand, and any bid he then 
makes should be an offensive one—“a hit towards 
Game” for himself and his partner. 


66 





AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


With the same argument, if the bid came round 
to Z with his Ace of Spades, and, reading his part¬ 
ner’s hand with the information given, he called 
3 No Trumps, then Y, with his certain knowledge 
that Z holds the Spades guarded, might, if his solid 
suit of Diamonds be very long, and he has a 
possible entry elsewhere, be able, if necessary, 
either to call “4 No Trumps,” or to double A if 
further opposition bidding is forthcoming, and his 
judgment warrants it. 


60 




AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


(4) An Initial Suit Bid of “Two” 

There are many players who still persist in 
making an initial bid of “two ” signifying “length 
without tops ” 

Such a bid is a serious handicap to the De¬ 
clarer s partner and of very great assistance to the 
opponents 

A Major suit bid of “one” has been clearly 
defined elsewhere: let us now proceed to consider a 
bid of “ two ” 

In the writer s opinion an original bid of two 
in a Major suit is only profitable if it is looked upon 
as a semi-pre-emptive bid—it should not be a 
declaration of weakness, but it is distinctly not a 
call for a change of suit 

The cards to justify such a bid would 
not be suitable for a bid of one but the call 
of two would suggest that it is just as far as the 
Declarer dare go with a hand that is not likely 
to be of much use except in the suit named, which is 
naturally above the average length 

The Declarer s partner should know that the 
usual two tricks would be required from the 
Dummy hand to make the declaration good and 


70 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


he is urged to raise the bid, if he is able, in the 
Major suit named 

Take such a hand as the following:— 
SPADES—10, 4. 

HEARTS—Ace, Jack, 9, 8, 7, 6. 
DIAMONDS—7, 5, 2. 

CLUBS—King, Queen. 

It is very doubtful if this hand would be an 
assistance as Dummy in No Trumps or in another 
suit bid—a call of one Heart could be easily over¬ 
bid by the opponents, it might easily produce a 
conventional “double” from them; and the hand 
is not good enough for a call of Three Hearts. A 
bid of two as a semi-pre-emptive bid may be just 
enough to put the opponents out of the field. 

This bid does not guarantee any particular 
strength to the partner if he change the bid, and 
what is just as important it does not declare any 
weakness to the opponents. 

It is very dangerous to “pass” with a hand of 
this kind with a view to bidding later as if the 
second hand “pass” alsc the third and fourth 
hands are likely to throw their cards in knowing 
that they require extra strength to be justified 
in opening the bidding if initial bids by their 
partners have been passed 


71 





AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS. 


As initial bids of two in a Minor suit could not 
be looked upon as likely to produce game, a different 
interpretation must be put upon such bids. 

As in an earlier chapter it was pointed out 
that a Minor suit bid of “one” should imply that 
the Declarer is prepared for “an improvement of 
bid” from his partner, it is clear that the only 
useful information to be gained from a Minor suit 
bid of “two” is that the suit is absolutely “solid,” 
and ready for taking tricks in “No Trumps.” 

The bid does not imply general strength, and 
it is not a weak bid that the opponents can use to 
their own advantage. 

The merits of an “offensive” Minor suit bid 
of “two” are therefore easily seen. 

Finesse 

The reader is urged to make some study of the 
art of finessing. 

It is a great declaration of inefficiency for a 
player to finesse badly, and stand to lose a trick by 
the very way he handles his honors. 

It seems almost incredible, but one often sees 
players with the following cards, or a similar com- 


72 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


bination, attack the suit by leading the Queen with 
a view to finessing— 


Spades— 

Hearts—Ace, 9, 4. 
Diamonds— 

Clubs— 


Y 

A B 
Z 


Spades— 

Hearts—Queen, 8, 2. 
Diamonds— 

Clubs— 


When Z leads his Queen, either it is covered by 
A with the King and the Ace goes on from Dummy 
(in which case Z, Y, make one trick in the suit)— 
or else Z runs the Queen, and it is taken by B with 
the King at fourth hand (with the same resulting 
one trick to Z, Y). 

Played from Z, then, only one trick is obtain¬ 
able. 

It should be obvious that if Z, Y are to make 
two tricks out of the suit that a small card should 
be led from Y, hoping that the King lies with B— 
if the King lies with A only one trick is available 
in any case, but at all events Z, Y have an even 
chance in that. 


73 





AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


If B has the King, and puts it up, the Ace and 
Queen will be left for Z, Y, and if B has it, and 
does not put it up, the Queen will take the first 
trick. 

One must always consider before leading an 
honor what will be the result if the honor is covered 
(as it will be if the next in play is able to cover it), 
and if the result will be advantageous. 

The following cards require slightly different 
handling:— 

Spades — 

Hearts—Ace, 3, 2. 

Diamonds— 

Clubs— 


Y 

A B 
Z 


Spades— 

Hearts—Queen, Jack, 4. 

Diamonds— 

Clubs— 

If Z is playing No Trumps and he sees that he 
requires only two tricks from the Heart suit, added 
to his other tricks to produce game, he will of 
course lead the Queen, because the Jack is behind 
it for the second trick; but if he urgently needs three 


74 




AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


tricks from the Heart suit and can afford to wait 
until the suit is opened by the opponents, he will 
probably delay leading Hearts for a time. 

If the Declarer require three tricks and have 
the following cards he will lead the small card from 
the Dummy:— 


Spades— 
Hearts—Ace, 5. 
Diamonds— 
Clubs— 


Y 

A B 
Z 


Spades— 

Hearts—Queen, Jack, 8, 4. - 
Diamonds— 

Clubs— 


If B hold the King, and he sees the Ace in the 
Dummy, he may put up his King second hand 
(as Z’s cards are unseen and the suit might not be 
played three times), and at least three tricks will 
then be left for Z, Y 

If thus played, three tricks being required, the 
suit should be opened early in the game, as Z will 
need a re-entry after the second round of Hearts 


75 





AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


is taken by Y with the Ace—if only two tricks are 
required the Queen will be first led from Z’s hand 
and finessed in the ordinary way. 

The practised player will appreciate the vital 
moment when he must abandon his cherished 
finesse and “run for shelter;” but a study of ordi¬ 
nary finessing is within the powers of most players, 
and the correct and scientific finesse should be 
recognised at a glance. 


t 


76 




AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


(5) The No Trump '‘Rescue” Abandoned 

The rescue by the Declarer’s partner after a 
No Trump bid has for long been a source of con¬ 
tention, and the disappointments that have 
followed the weak take-out have been many, and 
generally speaking, unnecessary. 

Attempts have been made to earmark the 
quality of the take-out, by discriminating between 
the Major and Minor suits; but, as the rule thus 
laid down was entirely an arbitrary one, and not 
founded upon reason, the disappointments have 
continued, and the convention thus applied has 
become unpopular and out of date. 

When the Declarer calls No Trumps he ex¬ 
pects of course to make two tricks with the Dummy, 
and he may find the two tricks are not forthcoming. 
That is freely admitted, but it must be pointed out 
at the same time that what looks like a trickless 
hand to the Dummy may, from the Declarer’s 
point of view, contain a trick or more. 

Even if the Declarer lose one or two tricks 
over the play of such a hand, he can hardly* look 
upon that as a “dead loss,” as it is obvious that the 
opponents must have two-thirds or more of the cards, 
and the Declarer is preventing them from the 
benefit of playing the hand by playing it himself. 


77 




auction bridge in ten lessons 


The opponents cannot double his bid of “one”— 
they must either pass, or take the bid away from 
him, in which case the third hand’s call will be a 
guide. 

That is one point, but the most important 
reason for the abandon of the rescue is that it gives 
such valuable information to the opponents—it 
often starts them bidding when they might other¬ 
wise not have done so, and it ruins the good cards 
the Declarer had in his initial No Trump, because 
the opponents play through those cards if they 
obtain the declaration. 

The weak rescue at No Trumps would not be 
so unprofitable if the opponents were gagged and 
prevented from bidding; but, among expert 
players such an advertisement of a trickless 
hand is a point not to be passed over lightly, and 
they will press the advantage to the utmost. 

As the rescue, therefore, is no longer popular, 
and was never reasonable, a “take-out” at No 
Trumps must be looked upon as considerable 
strength in the suit named. 

A No Trump may be taken out in either a 
Major or a Minor suit by the Declarer’s partner; 
but only with the probability of getting game in the 
take-out suit. 


78 




AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


One’s Partner Doubled 

The efficient Auction player does not make a 
“business” double if he thinks that the opponents 
can evade him by switching off to another suit. 

When two partners call different suits on the 
first round of the bidding, one of the other players 
if he is more efficient than his opponents, will often 
double the second bid simply to encourage the 
partner'of the one he doubled to go back into the 
first suit named, which, also doubled, will bring a 
more assured penalty. 

To take a partner out of a double is generally 
a case of “out of the frying-pan into the fire,” 
and one must always remember that a good doubler 
has thought the matter out before doubling 


79 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


(6) Raising One’s Partner Without Opposition 

Hands frequently occur in which it is well 
for the Declarer’s partner to raise the bid without 
opposition. 

This bid has practically the advantages of a 
pre-emptive bid, and is made to prevent the fourth 
hand from calling. 

A bid from the fourth hand might be made to 
“push up” the Declarer, or it might be made to 
“call a lead” from the second hand. 

With such supporting cards as the following, 
a raise, without opposition, from One to Two 
Hearts would be advisable to prevent the fourth 
hand from bidding Spades. 

SPADES—9, 2. 

HEARTS—King, 3, 2. 

DIAMONDS—Ace, King, 3. 

CLUBS—10, 9, 8, 5, 4. 

There are three certain tricks in this hand, 
instead of the two required to fulfil the contract— 
the Declarer must be holding the Ace of Hearts, 
so the King of Hearts will be a certain trick in the 
Dummy. 


80 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 

If the 2 of Spades were absent, leaving a 

• _ i 

singleton in that suit, and the Queen of Diamonds 
substituted for the 3, there would be four tricks, 
and the raise should be to Three Hearts as the 
necessity of calling against the Spades is still more 
apparent. 

As elsewhere mentioned if the Declarer’s 
partner change from one Major suit to another it 
would suggest that the partner is not only weak 
but short in the Declarer’s suit; but, with three 
or more of the Declarer’s trumps, the partner should 
not change the bid, but raise in the suit named. 

False-Carding 

It is not, as a rule, in the interests of the op¬ 
ponents to false-card and they usually deceive each 
other in so doing. 

The opponents sometimes have an opportunity 
to play “high-low,” dropping the higher first in 
playing two cards of a suit to show that they can 
ruff the third round; but that hardly comes under 
the heading of false-carding. 

There are situations when the opponents can 
false-card without any possible loss to themselves— 


81 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


usually they are false-carding with two cards of 
equal value against a possible finesse in the 
Dummy—but such situations are infrequent. 

There is no sound argument in Auction Bridge 
that cannot be reasonably dispensed with upon 
occasion. 

One knows, for instance, why it is correct to 
cover an honor led with an honor, but any player 
second in hand who sees that, by covering the 
honor led the entire established suit will be left 
in the Dummy would be wise to pass the trick 
and not cover it hoping that the Declarer will 
conclude he has not got the honor and will at¬ 
tempt to catch it from the fourth hand by playing 
high from the Dummy 

The Declarer may false-card whenever he 

i 

sees there is a possible gain in so doing, as he has no 
partner to deceive, and he has arranged his plan of 
campaign after the opening lead 

No one should false-card as a habit but only 
when some point is to be gained as this form of 
bluff is a great asset if carefully applied 


82 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


Refusing To Take A Trick 

The refusal to play a commanding card of a 
suit has at all times the same object—it is done to 
prevent, if possible, the re-entry of an adversary’s 
suit in one hand, by taking away the power from 
the other adversary to lead it. 

If one of the adversaries has no more of the 
suit to lead, it is obvious that a new entry must be 
found in another suit. 

Take the following hand in No Trumps:— 

Diamonds—Queen, Jack, 9, 8, 7 


Diamonds— 
Ace, 3, 2. 



Z leads the King of Diamonds. 


If Z leads the King and A refuses to put up 
the Ace, then Z will lead again. A will again refuse 
to play his Ace, and then Y, the Dummy, will 
lead. A’s Ace will go on, and by that time A hopes 
Z will have no more Diamonds to lead if he gets 
in; and Y will have to re-enter as best he may, in 
some other suit. 


83 





AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


By this play it is possible that Y’s twcJ remain¬ 
ing Diamonds may never take tricks. 

In the above hand the under play was effected 
in order to prevent the Dummy from taking tricks, 
but it may be as reasonably done to prevent the 
Declarer from establishing a suit in his own 
hand. 

In this case the opponents must watch the 
Dummy, and put up the commanding card as soon 
as Dummy has no more of the suit to lead. 

If the fall of the cards is carefully noted, and 
the suit counted, it is usually possible to avoid the 
mistake of holding up the winning card one round 
too long. 

The crucial moment to play the high card can 
only be judged by observing the Dummy and the 
fall of the cards. 

Finesse To Let the Right Hand In 

If the Declarer is playing No Trumps and by 
holding off a high card, until perhaps obliged to 
put it up, has succeeded in exhausting the suit 
from the hand of one of his adversaries, he should 
endeavour, if possible, to play his finesses so that 
the opponent who is not holding the established 
suit is the player who may take the trick and get 
the lead. 


84 



It is possible that the hand with the long 
suit has no re-entry, but very often cunning oppo¬ 
nents will establish the suit nevertheless, because 
dropping the suit, and changing the lead, would 
advertise the fact that no re-entry is in the hand. 

The Declarer will not over-look this ma¬ 
noeuvre. 

Partner’s . Suit Twice Over-Called by 
Opponents’ No Trumps 

If the Declarer Z twice over-call the suit bid 
of the 4th hand, B, it may generally be concluded 
that he has the suit twice stopped; and A will be 
wise in that case to lead an alternate suit if he has 
a hand that warrants the experiment. If, however, 
he has no likely-looking suit, he should persevere 
in his partner’s declared suit, and lead that as often 
as he is able. 

A should never be put off from leading B’s 
suit simply because the Declarer has called over it 
once —weak players often make that mistake and 
play into the Declarer’s hand by changing the suit 
lead, the Declarer having counted upon their taking 
fright and leading some other suit. 


85 




AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


The Declarer Should Not Ruff in the Long 
Hand Unless He Intends to Double-Ruff 

The player who ruffs out of the Declarer’s 
hand (either before or after clearing the trump 
suit) with no intention of cross-ruffing, shows 
himself to be an inefficient player. 

The Declarer’s object should be to establish 
his plain suits, and to hold his trumps, after he has 
cleared his trump suit, as a reserve. 

As the opponents will force the Declarer to 
put up those remaining trumps whenever they can, 
and as they recognize that each time a trump goes 
up from the Declarer’s hand as a ruff that they are 
clearing away an obstacle, it is obviously not in the 
Declarer's interests to use his remaining trumps 
unless he is obliged. 

If the Declarer can secure a double-ruff he is 
of course using his own and Dummy’s trumps 
separately; but, for no good reason, to force the 
lead into the Dummy’s hand and then put up a 
trump in the strong hand is a manoeuvre painful to 
witness. Those last trumps are certain tricks, 
and what the Declarer needs to do is to establish 
and take tricks with cards that are not winning 
until he makes them so. 


86 




AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


(7) Counting the Discards 

The prospect of counting the cards of each 
suit and remembering every discard, seems an 
almost impossible task to the unpractised player. 

In reality it is not difficult to keep track of all 
the cards if the player sets about playing his hand 
in a scientific and methodical way. 

As the expert tennis player studies how he 
may save himself unnecessary movement on the 
tennis-court, so the expert Auction player knows 
how he may save himself unnecessary mental 
exercise during the game 

In the first place the player of a hand in 
making his plan of campaign after the opening 
lead, often builds his hopes for game (if he is 
playing with a suit as trumps) upon the success 
of his “ second suit,” after opposing trumps are 
drawn. 

In watching the discards when he is drawing an 
opponent’s last trumps, the Declarer is looking for 
discards in his “second suit.” 

If he is playing No Trumps the Declarer 
usually plays out one suit and watches for dis¬ 
cards in the other suits, in order that he may know 
what chance he has of successfully finessing. In 
watching one particular suit being discarded, a 


87 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


card thrown from some other suit will be auto¬ 
matically registered in his mind—he is not con¬ 
sciously counting discards in all the suits, but he 
will find nevertheless that he can remember them 
without effort. Let us take the following hand:— 
Z is to play the hand in Spades, A having led 
a small Club. 

Spades—4, 2. 

Hearts—Ace, Queen, 9, 3. 

Oiamonds—Queen, 10, 6, 5. 

Clubs—A<ce, 5, 2. 


A leads a small 
Club. 


Spades—Ace, King, Queen, 9, 6, 3. 

■ Hearts—10. 

Diamonds—King, 4, 3. 

Clubs—Queen, 8, 3. 

x If A is leading from the King of Clubs, Z’s 
Queen will take the trick, leaving Y’s Ace for the 
second round of Clubs. The difficulty will be for 
Z to dispose of his third small Club. Z should 
therefore take the first trick with the Queen of 
Clubs, lead his trump suit, possibly four times, and 
watch the discards to see if he can discover the 
position of the King of Hearts—a discovery which 
might make it worth his while to attempt a finesse 
in Hearts in the Dummy hand, and a discard of his 
losing Club if the finesse succeeds. Z has the game 


Y 

A B 
Z 


88 




AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


in his hand in any case, and the discard of the Club 
may give him the Little Slam. 

In watching for Hearts to be thrown Z will 
have his attention arrested if a discard from an 
opponent should be a Diamond. If a Diamond is 
discarded he may attempt to establish the Diamond 
suit, instead of finessing in Hearts, and discard 
the losing Club on the fourth round of Diamonds 
played from Dummy’s hand. 

Take again the following hand, played by- Z 
in No Trumps. 

A opens with the 8 of Clubs— 

Spades—10, 7, 6, 2. 

Hearts—King, Jack, 5, 3, 

Diamonds—King, 10, 3. 

Clubs—Jack, 5. 


A leads the 8 of 
Clubs. 


Y 

A B 
Z 


Spades—King, Jack. 

« Hearts—10, 7, 4. 

Diamonds—Ace, Jack, 5, 4, 2. 
Clubs—King, Queen, 4. 


It is not going to be very easy for Z to get 
three tricks in No Trumps with this hand, and it is 
very important he should discover if possible the 
position of the Queen of Diamonds. The Eleven 


89 




AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


Rule tells Z that either his own or Dummy’s hand 
can win the trick in clubs led by A 

It will be best for Z’s hand to take the trick, 
so that he may lead Hearts up to Y’s King, Jack. 

If this finesse is successful, in playing out the 
Heart .suit later, Z may discover by the opponent’s 
discard the position of the Queen of Diamonds. 
The discovery will enable him to finesse against it 
successfully in his own or in Dummy’s hand. 

It will be noticed in the above hand Z did not 
lead his strongest suit to begin with, because he 
wished to observe discards in a particular suit 

In looking for discards in Diamonds Z will 
automatically retain in his mind the remembrance 
of Spades being thrown, and he may discover he 
has a good chance in the Spade suit if neither 
opponent will discard a Diamond 

If the player of Auction Bridge will make 
plans for his hands in this way, he will very soon 
find that he is not counting the discards con¬ 
sciously at all, and he will be saving himself a 
great deal of mental effort 


90 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


(8) The Lead “Emphatic” 

The beginner is always taught, if he is leading 
from Ace, King, of a suit, to lead the King* first. 
This will imply to his partner that if the King 
takes the trick the Leader also has the Ace, although 
he may not continue with the suit, but wish to 
save the Ace as a re-entry for his hand. 

There are times however, when the reverse 
lead is of great use to the leader’s partner:— 

It sometimes happens that No Trumps has 
been declared, and the leader has an exceptionally 
strong Minor suit, by which he hopes to put his 
opponents under their contract. 

We will say A, the Leader, holds the following 
cards:— 

SPADES—10, 2. 

HEARTS—Queen, 7. 

DIAMONDS—Ace, King, Jack, 9, 8, 7, 4. 

CLUBS—Jack 3 

If he risks calling Diamonds then No Trumps 
will not be played, and as A s partner has not bid, 
the opponents are likely to thank him for the warn¬ 
ing, and branch off into Spades or Hearts 

There are seven Diamonds in A s hand and no 
probable entry in another suit 


91 




AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


If the other three players have two Diamonds 
each, the suit will run out in any case, but if any one 
of them has three to the Queen it will be stopped. 

The odds are that they will hold two Dia¬ 
monds each, but in case A’s partner (B) holds three 
to the Queen it is most important that B gets out 
of the way, and that he does not take the third 
round of Diamonds with his Queen. 

A cannot expect B to unblock and throw his 
Queen with no knowledge whatever of A’s length 
in the suit, as, if he does so, for all B knows the 
third round might be taken by the opponents with 
the Jack. 

A’s correct lead therefore is first his Ace, and 
then his King, thereby signifying to his partner 
that he wants the suit unblocked, and that he 
hopes to run it right out. 

On the second lead of the King B should realize 
that the order of the honors led is unusual, he should 
throw his Queen if he has it guarded, and retain 
his third small card to duck under A’s Jack. 

This “emphatic” lead then, which is the re¬ 
verse of the usual lead, should only be made when 
one partner urgently wants the other partner to 
unblock the suit. 


92 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


Leading Through An Opponents' Guarded 

Queen 

Another point the wary Auction player must 
be on the watch for is an opponent calling No 
Trumps over a suit bid, holding only the Queen 
and two others as a guard in the suit named 
against him. 

We will take such a hand as the following:— 

Z calls “No Trumps" and the bid goes round 
to B who calls “2 Spades," and Z calls “2 No 
Trumps." 

A has to lead. 


Spades—King, 4, 3, 2. 
Hearts—Queen, 7, 3. 
Diamonds—10, 4, 2, 
Clubs—Jack, 7, 6. 


Y 

A B 
Z 


It is quite impossible for A to raise his partner 
to “3 Spades"—he has a very doubtful two tricks 
in his hand, and such a raise of bid would imply 
three tricks. 

Z evidently has a very strong No Trumper, 
and his strength must be chiefly in the Minor suits, 
which he does not want to be forced into bidding. 


93 




AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


It is more or less certain, however, that B is 
holding the Ace of Spades and that Z, overcalling 
with “2 No Trumps” holds the Queen of that 
suit guarded, and that he is counting on A making 
the usual lead of the highest of his partner’s suit. 

If A leads his King, and then a small card Z 
will make his Queen on the third trick. 

A should foresee this and lead his 2 
of Spades, which B will take with the Ace. It will 
now occur to B that if the 2 of Spades is A’s best 
card of the suit that it was very odd that A should 
open the suit at all. B will then realize that A is 
holding the next best of the suit, and is waiting to 
wreck Z’s guarded Queen. 

B will return his Jack therefore, through Z’s 
Queen and Z will have no control of the suit, which 
will be run out against him by A and B 


94 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


(9) Taking Out Dummy’s Re-Entries 

As the sound Auction player knows how to 
set about playing a hand to the greatest advantage, 
so, conversely, a sound opponent will know how 
it may be possible to upset his scheme. 

We will take the following cards as being a 
fair sample of a Dummy hand at No Trumps:— 

SPADES—Ace, 9. 

HEARTS^), 8, 5. 

DIAMONDS—King, Queen, 10, 3, 2. 
CLUBS—10, 3, 2. 

With such a Dummy as the above, the De¬ 
clarer will naturally open his Diamond suit when he 
has the lead, if he does not hold the Ace in his own 
hand. He will establish the suit and re-enter the^ 
Dummy with the Ace of Spades. 

The intelligent opponents should also see, 
directly the Dummy goes on the table, that the 
Declarer is likely to play the hand in this way. 
It would therefore behove the opponents, as soon 
as possible, to remove the Ace of Spades from the 
Dummy, and in the above hand two leads will 
effectually do so. 

If the Declarer has not the Ace of Diamonds 
the opponents may be able to hold off from putting 


95 





AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


up the Ace until the Declarer has no more Diamonds 
to lead, and then, having taken out the Ace of 
Spades already, there will be no re-entry in the 
Dummy hand. 

Take again the following hand:— 


Spades—Jack, 7, 3. 

Hearts—King, 4. 

Diamonds—S, 8, 2. 

Clubs—Ace, King, 10, 3, 2. 


Spades, 10, 9, 2. 

Hearts—Queen, 8, 4. 
Diamonds—King, 9, 3, 2. 
Clubs—Queen, Jack, 7. 


Y 

A B 
Z 


If Z were playing this as No Trumps it should 
be obvious to both A and B, after the Dummy- 
hand goes down, that they should take out the King 
6f Hearts, from the Dummy, in case either A or 
B are able to stop the Club suit. 

If they give Z a chance to establish his 
Club suit he may re-enter later with the King of 
Hearts. 

If A is a good player, and B is a bad one, it 
may be readily understood how annoying it is for 
A, if he opens the Heart suit and the first trick is 
taken by B with the Ace, to find B open some other 
suit on the grounds that it was no good going on 


96 







AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


with the Hearts “because of the winning King in 
the Dummy.” It is just because of that King 
that B should return the Heart suit, and give A 
the credit for being able, possibly, to stop the Clubs. 

The opponents must be ready to concede a 
trick if necessary, in an attempt to save a certain 
game, and not merely avail themselves of their 
commanding cards. It is better for the opponents 
to have an Ace in their hand and not make it than 
for them, in making the Ace, to establish 
a trick thereby for the Declarer. Although 
this Ace should be held up just long enough and no 
longer, it is on the whole less disastrous to hold it 
too long than to play it too soon. 

The opponents are not going to score below 
the line and the Declarer is. 

If A and B see, from the appearance of 
Dummy, that there are several entries, and that 
they cannot keep the long suit out, that is the 
time to “rush for shelter,” take what tricks they 
can, and save slams; but, when Dummy has 
only one entry outside its long unestablished suit, 
then that entry should be attacked as soon as 
possible. 

An expert player is recognisable by the way he 
plays his opposition and handles his losing cards— 
with a poor hand he can do much damage to the 


97 




AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


Declarer, for his insight into the game will find the 
weak spot in the opponents' armour. Although he 
has few winning cards himself, he may be able to 
remove those entries that the Declarer has good 
reason for retaining. 


* 


98 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


(10) Establishing An Uncertain Suit 

In the foregoing chapter it was pointed out 
that expert opponents can do much to minimize 
the advantage the Declarer has in playing the two 
hands. 

Authorities all agree that playing the hand is 
worth a trick, but good players well know that, if 
they are playing against opponents not as good as 
themselves, playing the hand is worth con¬ 
siderably more than one trick. 

Sound opponents can take out the Dum¬ 
my’s re-entry, they can prevent the Dummy from 
ruffing a short suit by boldly opening trumps 
through the Declarer to exhaust the threatening 
Dummy’s trumps, and they can, by conventional 
cards and discards, block the Declarer’s path. 

But, in spite of all this they are, in some 
directions, helpless in the Declarer’s hands—the 
Declarer can appreciate certain points because he 
has the privilege of seeing his combining hands. 

We will take one case in point. 

In the following situation Z, the Declarer, has 
called No Trumps, and finds Dummy with a long 
Minor suit headed by Ace, King 

99 


> 


> > 




AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


Spades—10, 3. 

Hearts—9, 4. 

Diamonds—8, 8, 3. 

Clubs—-Ace, King, 9, 8, 6, 2. 


Y 

A B 
Z 


Spades—Ace, Jack, 0. 

Hearts—King. Queen, 7. 3. 
Diamonds—Queen, Jack, 4, 2. 
Clubs—7, 3. 


When Z obtains the lead it is obvious, if he is 
to make much out of the Dummy, that he must 
open the Club suit. 

If he plays out two rounds with the Ace and 
King he will find that the opponents stop the third 
round, and having no re-entry in the Dummy the 
suit will be dead. His only plan, then, will be to 
lead a small card from his own hand and play low 
from the Dummy, whatever the play of the 
second in hand, and compel the opponents to 
take the first trick. 

Z will then be able, on regaining the lead, to 
play his other small Club, put up the King, play 
another round with Ace, and hope with ordinary 
luck to run the suit out and make five tricks in 
Clubs. 


c i 


100 





AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


The opponents cannot prevent the Declarer 
from doing this, and unless four Clubs are found in 
one opponent's hand, and only one Club in the 
other, the Declarer will attain his object and es¬ 
tablish the suit. 


Playing to Rule 

It is urged upon all players of Auction Bridge, 
whether good players or bad, to “play the rules.” 
It is not a question of etiquette as to whether a 
penalty incurred should be exacted. If the game is 
to be played in a “sporting” spirit, the player 
who incurs the penalty will be the first to wish that 
the opponents profit by it. 

If an adversary lead out of turn the Declarer 
should “call a lead” without discussion, as a 
matter of course, and every other rule should be 
recognized in the same way. 

Laxity in these matters is a sure sign of in¬ 
different play—the really good player knows the 
importance of playing to rule, and will bear no 
grudge when a penalty is exacted from him. 

Laxity as to rules, and talking at the table, are 
far more annoying to the good player than a few 
tricks misjudged and lost by his weaker partner. 


101 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


The good player has been through the mill himself, 
maybe, in earlier days; he has more sympathy 
with those who, at any rate, keep quiet, play the 
rules, and do their best. 


FINIS 

% 


102 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


THE LAWS OF AUCTION 

How Played 

1. The game of Auction is played by four 
players, two against two playing as partners. 
Two partners constitute a side. 

Cards 

2. Two packs 1 of cards having different 
backs are used. A correct pack contains four suits 
of thirteen cards each; one card of each denomi¬ 
nation to a suit. A pack becomes imperfect when 
one or more cards are torn, soiled or otherwise so 
marked that they may be identified from their 
backs. 


Rank of Cards 

3. In the play, Ace is high, then King, Queen, 
Jack, Ten, etc.; Deuce being lowest. In drawing 
cards, Ace is low, then Deuce, Trey, etc.; King 
being highest. 

1 The game may be played with one pack, legal provisions requiring 
"wo packs being suspended by consent. 

103 




AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


Rank of Suits 

4. In the declaration, 1 Spades are high, 
Hearts next, Diamonds next and Clubs lowest. 
In drawing cards, as between cards of equal 
denomination, Spades are low, Hearts next, Dia¬ 
monds next, and Clubs highest. 

Lead 

5. The player at the left of Declarer leads 2 to 
the first trick 3 and thereafter the winner of each 
trick leads to the next. 

Trick 

6. After the lead, each player in his turn to 
the left plays 2 a card. A trick consists of four 
cards thus played. 

Following Suit 

7. A player must follow suit, i.e., must play 
a card of the suit led if he have one. When leading, 
or when void of the suit led, he may play any card 
he holds. 4 

1 In the declaration, No Trump ranks above any suit. 

2 A player leads or plays by placing one of his cards face upward 
near the center of the table. 

3 The first lead of a hand, when legally made, is called the initial 

lead. 

4 To “refuse” is-to fail to follow suit. To “renounce” (Law 55) 
is to refuse when able to follow suit. See Law 56 for “ revoke." 


104 




AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


Winning the Trick 

8. A trick is won for his side by the player 
who, (a) if the trick does not contain a trump, 1 
plays the highest card of the suit led; or who 
(b) plays the highest trump, if the trick contain 
one or more trumps. A trick once turned and 
quitted 2 may not be looked at 3 until the end of the 
hand. 


Odd Tricks 

9. Odd tricks are those won by Declarer in 
excess of six tricks. If Declarer fulfil his contract, 
his side counts the value of all odd tricks; other¬ 
wise nothing is counted in the trick score. 

Trick Values 

10. Odd tricks count in the trick score as 
follows: 

With Clubs trumps, each counts 6 points. 

With Diamonds trumps, each counts 7 points. 

With Hearts trumps, each counts 8 points. 

1 As a result of the bidding (Law 30), the hand may be played 
without a trumi (i.e., ‘‘No Trump”) or with one of the four suits as the 
trump. Any trump is a winner as against any card of a plain (non-trump) 
suit. 

2 Footnote to Law 50 (a) defines ‘‘quitted." 

3 Law 61 (e) prescribes penalty. 

105 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


With Spaues trumps, each counts 9 points. 

With No Trump, each counts 10 points. 

Doubling doubles the above values; re¬ 
doubling multiplies them by four. 

Hand 

11. A hand 1 begins with the cut 2 and ends 
when the last card is played to the thirteenth trick. 

Game 

12. A game is won when one side has a trick 
score of thirty (30) or more points. A game 
may be completed in one hand or more; each 
hand is played out 3 whether or not during it the 
game be won. 


Rubber 


13. (a) A rubber begins with drawing for 

partners (Law 22) or cutting out (Law 23) and 
is completed when one side has won two games. 
The side which has won two games adds a bonus 


1 “Hand” is also used to mean the cards held by a player. When 
so used the sense is obvious. Also used to designate players, as in “second 
hand,” "third hand,” etc. 

2 See Law 25. 

3 All points won are counted whether or not they are needed to make 

game. 


106 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


of 250 points to its honor-score. The side having 
the greater number of total points 1 wins the rub¬ 
ber. 2 

(b) When a rubber is started with the agree¬ 
ment that the play shall terminate (i.e., no new 
hand shall commence) after a specified time, and 
the rubber is unfinished at that hour; the score is 
made up as it stands, 125 being added to the honor- 
score of the winners of a game. A hand if started 
must be played out. 

(c) If a rubber be started without any agree¬ 
ment as to its termination, and before its con¬ 
clusion one player leave; or if, after such agree¬ 
ment, a player leave before the appointed hour 
without appointing an acceptable substitute (Law 
21-a); the opponents have the right to consult and 
decide whether the score be canceled or counted as 
in (b). 

Honors 

14. The Ace, King, Queen, Jack and ten of 
the trump suit are the honors unless the declara¬ 
tion be No Trump, in which case the four aces 
are the honors. Honors count in the honor-score 
of the side which received them in the deal. 

1 See Law 17. 

2 Thus a side may win two games and still lose the rubber. 


107 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


Honor Values 

15. Honor values are based on trick values 
(Law 10). They are not increased by doubling 
(Law 35) or redoubling (Law 36). 

When There Is A Trump 

3 honors 1 between partners have value of 2 
tricks. 

4 honors between partners have value of 4 
tricks. 

4 honors held by one partner have value of 8 
tricks. 

5 honors, held 3 by one and 2 by other partner, 
have value of 5 tricks. 

5 honors, held 4 by one and 1 by other 
partner, have value of 9 tricks. 

, 5 honors held by one partner have value of 10 

tricks. 


When There Is No Trump 

3 aces held between partners count 30 points. 

4 aces held between partners count 40 points. 
4 aces held by one partner count 100 points. 

1 “Simple honors" means 3 honors. 


108 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


Slams 

16. A side winning all thirteen tricks 1 scores 
100 points for Slam. 2 A side winning twelve 
tricks scores 50 points for Little Slam. 3 Slam 
points are added to the honor-score. 4 

Scoring 

17. Each side has a trick-score, which includes 
only points won by odd tricks; and an honor-score 
for all other points, including bonuses for honors, 
penalties, slams and undertricks. 

At the end of the rubber, the total points of a 
side are obtained by adding together its trick- 
score and honor-score. 5 Subtracting the smaller 
total from the greater, gives the net points by 
which the rubber is won and lost. 6 

A proved error in the honor-score may be 
corrected at any time before the score of the rub¬ 
ber has been made up and agreed upon. 

A proved error in the trick-score may be cor¬ 
rected at any time before the next declaration 
begins (Law 29) or, if the error occur in the final 
hand of the rubber, before the score has been 
made up and agreed upon. 

1 Without counting tricks received as penalty for a revoke. 

2 Also called Grand Slam. 

3 When Declarer’s contract is seven and he wins six odd, he counts 
50 for Little Slam although his contract fail. 

4 Slam or Little Slam may be scored by either side. 

5 The 250 points bonus for winning two games (Law 13-a) is included. 

6 Law 13 (a) explains who wins a rubber. 


109 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


Forming Tables 

18. A table consists of four, five or six mem¬ 
bers, of whom four are players. A complete table 
consists of six members. In forming a table, 
candidates who have not played rank first and in 
the order in which they entered the room. Can¬ 
didates who have played but are not members of 
an existing table rank next. Candidates of equal 
standing decide priority by drawing 1 cards. Low 
wins. 


Entry 

19. Before the beginning of a rubber 2 a can¬ 
didate may enter any incomplete table by announc¬ 
ing his desire to do so and such announcements 
in the order made entitle candidates to places as 
vacancies occur. In case there are more candi¬ 
dates than there are vacancies, the provisions 
of Law 18 apply. 

Members Leaving Table 

20. If a member leave a table, he forfeits all 
his rights at said table unless he leave to make 

1 Method of drawing is described in Law 22. 

2 Law 13 (a) stipulates that the rubber begins when any player 
draws either for partners or cutting out. 


110 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


up a table which cannot be formed without him 
and when leaving, announce his intention of 
returning when his place at the new table can 
be filled In such case, if he return, he has prior 
rights over any who 'have joined the table in his 
absence and may displace one of them. When a 
member 1 leaves a table to make up a new table 
which cannot be formed without him, and does 
not claim the right to retain his membership in 
the old table he shall be the last to draw out of 
the new table 

Players Leaving Tables 

21 (a) A player leaving a table may with 

the consent of the other three players, appoint a 
substitute to play in his absence such appointment 
becomes void upon return of said player or upon 
conclusion of the rubber. In any case, the sub¬ 
stitute when released regains all his previous rights. 

(b) A player who withdraws from a table of 
four at the end of a rubber, or who after availing 
himself of the privileges of paragraph (a) fails to 
return before the end of the rubber, thus breaking 
up the table; cannot claim entry elsewhere as 
against the other three players from that table. 

1 Should two members make up a new table, both rank ahead of the 

others. 


Ill 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


Drawing for Partners and Deal 

22. A table having befen formed, the members 
draw 1 cards. He who draws lowest becomes the 
dealer of the first deal and has choice of packs 
and seats. 2 He who draws second lowest is Dealer’s 
partner and sits opposite him. The third lowest 
has choice of the two remaining seats; fourth 
lowest takes the remaining one. The members, if 
any, who draw higher than fourth lowest, remain 
members of the table but do not play in the 
current rubber. 

In all cases when drawing cards, should any one 
show two or more cards, he must draw again. 

A player having made choice of packs or seats 
must abide by his decision. 

Cutting Out 

23. If at the end of a rubber a table consist 
of five or six members, the players who have 
played the greatest numbers of consecutive rubbers 
are the first to lose their places as players (but 
do not lose their standing as members). The 
draw (Law 22) decides between claimants of equal 
standing; low wins. 

1 One pack is spread face downward on the table and each member 
draws one card. All draw from the same pack. 

2 A player may consult his partner before choosing. 


112 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


The Shuffle 

24. After drawing for partners, second hand 1 
shuffles the pack which Dealer has chosen (Law 
22) and third hand 2 shuffles the still pack. 3 There¬ 
after, at the beginning of each deal, third hand 
shuffles the still pack. 4 After being shuffled, 
the still pack is placed between second and third 
hands where it remains until the next deal. 

During the shuffle, the pack must not be held 
below the table nor so that the face of any card 
may be seen. 

Dealer has the right to shuffle last, but must 
not shuffle after the cut except as in 25 (b). 

The deal must not proceed until the pack has 
been shuffled as herein provided. 

The Cut 

25. (a) Dealer, immediately before the deal, 
places the pack before his right hand opponent 
who lifts off the top portion and places it beside 
the bottom portion, preferably toward Dealer 
who then places the bottom portion on top. 
This constitutes the cut. 

(b) If the cut leave fewer than four cards in 

1 The player on Dealer’s left. 

2 Third hand is Dealer’s partner. 

3 The "still pack’’ is the one not being dealt, or used in the play of 
the hand. 

4 A player may not cut or shuffle for partner if either opponent 

object. 


113 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


the top or bottom portion; or if during it any 
card be faced or displaced or if there be any doubt 
as to where the pack was divided; or any player 
shuffle after the cut; there must be a new shuffle 
and a new cut 1 


The Deal 

26 (a) The deal begins after the cut and 

ends when the last card has been placed in proper 
order in front of Dealer 

(b) After the first deal, players deal in turn to 
the left A player may not deal for his partner 
if either opponent object 

(c) Dealer gives the first card to the player 
on his left and so on until all fifty-two cards are 
dealt the last one to the Dealer 

(d) A player may not look at any of his cards 
during the deal Penalty 25 points in the adverse 
honor-score. 


New Deal (Compulsory) 

27 There must be a new deal 2 

(a) If the cards be not dealt into four dis¬ 
tinct packets in accordance with Law 26 (c). 

(b) If during the deal any card be found 

1 A player may not cut or shuffle for partner if either opponent 

object. 

2 Always by the same Dealer, and with the same pack except (e) 
when a missing card is not found. See Law 62 regarding new cards. 


114 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


faced in the pack or be exposed on above or below 
the table 

(c) If it be discovered during the hand that 
more than thirteen cards were dealt to any player 

(d) If during the hand one player holds more 
than the proper number of cards and another less 

(e) If during the hand the pack be proved 
incorrect (Law 2) The pack is not incorrect on 
account of a missing card or cards if it or they 
be found in the still pack among the quitted 
tricks below the table or in any other place 
which makes it possible that such card or cards 
were part of the pack during the deal Any player 
may search anywhere for missing cards including 
the still pack and the quitted tricks (face down¬ 
ward). See also Law 56 (e) 

New Deal (Optional) 1 

28. During the deal any player who has not 
looked at any of his cards may demand a new deal." 

(f) If the deal be out of turn 

(g) If the pack be imperfect (Law 2) 

1 A new deal may also be demanded under Laws 37 (d) and 54 (i) 

2 By the same dealer except as in (f) and with the same pack except 
as in (g) and (i). 


115 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


A new deal may be demanded by either of 
Dealer’s opponents 1 who has not looked at any 
of his cards; 

(h) If Dealer omit the cut. 

(i) If Dealer deal with wrong pack. 

If any player, after looking at a card, make a 
claim under this law; or, if no claim be made; 
the deal stands as regular, and the player to the 
left deals next. In case of a deal with the wrong 
pack (i), the next dealer, may choose either pack 
for the remainder of the rubber. 

The Declaration 

29. The declaration 2 begins when the deal 
ends and ends when all four players pass 3 (Law 38) 

$ A 

their first opportunity to declare or, after a bid, 
(Law 30) when three players in succession have 
legally passed. The first legal act of the declara¬ 
tion is a bid or pass by the dealer. Thereafter 
each player in his turn to the left must pass, bid 
if no bid has been made previously, make a higher 
bid 5 if a bid has been made previously, double 

1 “Opponent” is always used in the general sense; “Adversary” 
is always an opponent of Declarer. 

2 Declaration also means either bid, double, pass or redouble. 

3 The player next in turn then deals with his own pack. 

4 To declare means to bid, double, pass or redouble. 

5 Law 31 defines “higher bid.” 


116 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


the last bid made by an opponent or redouble an 
opponent’s double provided no bid has intervened. 

Bid Defined 

30. A bid is made by specifying any number 
from one (1) to seven (7) inclusive, together with 
the name of a suit or No Trump; thereby offering 
to contract that with such suit as trump or with 
No Trump, the bidder will win at least the sped-' 
fied number of odd tricks. 

Higher Bid Defined 

31. To make a “higher bid” a player must (a) 
name a greater number 1 of odd tricks in a suit or 
No Trump than the number named in the last 
previous bid, or (b) name at least an equal number 
of odd tricks in a suit of higher rank (Law 4) than 
the suit named in the previous bid. 

- Insufficient Bid 

32. A bid following any previous bid is 
“insufficient” if it is not “higher” according to 
Law 31 

When an insufficient bid is made: 

(a) The insufficient bidder, if he do so before 
an opponent has declared or called attention to 
the insufficiency, may make the bid sufficient bv 

1 Seven is the greatest number that may be named. 


117 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


changing the number of odd tricks named, in 
which case the declaration proceeds as if the bid 
had been sufficient 

(b) When either opponent calls attention to 
an insufficient bid before it is changed the in¬ 
sufficient bidder must make his bid sufficient by 
increasing the number 1 of odd tricks named and 

. if the player on the left of the insufficient bidder 
then pass the partner of the insufficient bidder 
must pass and may not re-enter the declaration 
unless an opponent subsequently bid or double 

(c) If neither opponent call attention to the 
insufficiency and the player on the left of the 
insufficient bidder either bid double or pass, the 
previous insufficiency is waived. 

(d) Either opponent after the bid has been 
made sufficient as provided in (b) may in turn 
make a higher 2 bid, in which case the declaration 
proceeds as if no bid had been insufficient 

Bid Out of Turn Defined 

33. A bid is out of turn 3 (not an illegitimate 
bid, Law 41): 

1 Not exceeding seven. 

2 i.e.. Higher than the bid after it has been made sufficient. 

3 When a bid is out of turn and also insufficient (Law 32), either 
opponent may elect to apply either Law 32 (b) or Law 34 (a). 


118 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


(a) If, before Dealer declares a bid be made 
by any other player 

(b) If, after Dealer declares, any player bid 
otherwise then in his turn 

Bid Out of Turn Penalized 

34. After a bid out of turn: 

(a) Either opponent of the offender may can¬ 
cel it The proper player then proceeds with the 
declaration, 1 the out-of-turn bid being ignored, 
but the partner of the out-of-turn bidder must 
thereafter pass whenever his turn comes 2 

(b) When the player on the left of the out-of¬ 
turn bidder declares before the improper bid is 
canceled, the out-of-turn bid is thereby accepted 
as if made in turn and there is no penalty 

(c) When the player on the right of the out-of¬ 
turn bidder is the proper declarer and declares 3 
without otherwise canceling the improper bid, 
such act cancels the out-of-turn bid and (a) 
applies. 

Double Defined 

35. When, during the declaration and in 
proper turn, a player doubles it doubles the trick 

1 The “ proper player” must pass if he is the partner of the player in 

error. 

2 The offending player, as he has not received improper information 
may subsequently declare in turn. 

3 When he doubles, it is a double of the last legal bid. 


119 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


value (Law 10) of the last previous bid. Doubling 
does not change bidding values (Laws 4 and 31), 
nor the values of honors (Law 15), Slam or Little 
Slam (Law 16). 

Redouble Defined 

36. When, during the declaration, and in 
proper turn, a player redoubles, it doubles the 
double (Law 35); that is, it multiplies the original 
trick value (Law 10) by four. A redouble, like a 
double, affects only trick values (Law 35). 

Improper Doubles and Redoubles 

37. The penalties for improper doubles or 
redoubles follow: 

(a) A double or redouble before a bid has 
been made is void. 

(b) A double or redouble after the declaration 
end: Law 41 (a) prescribes the penalty. 

(c) A double or redouble made when it is the 
turn of the right hand opponent to declare is 
subject to the same penalty as a bid out of turn 
(Law 34-a) unless the partner of the offender has 
passed the bid involved, in which case the double 
or redouble is void and there is no penalty. 

(d) A double or redouble when it is partner’s 
turn to declare may be accepted by the opponents, 


120 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS' 


after consultation, as if it had been in turn; or 
they may demand a new deal; or call the bid that 
was doubled final and elect whether the double or 
redouble stand. Any of the penalties may be 
exacted even though the partner of the offender 
call attention to the error; but, if the player to 
the left of the offender declare, he thereby accepts 
the out-of-turn double or redouble. 

(e) A double of a double is a redouble; a re¬ 
double when there has been no double is a double; 
a redouble of a redouble is void and is penalized 
by a new deal or 100 points in the adverse honor- 
score. Doubling a partner’s bid or redoubling a 
partner’s double is penalized by 50 points in the 
adverse honor-score. Either opponent may exact 
any of these penalties. 

Pass Defined 

38. When, during the declaration and in 
proper turn, a player passes; the turn to declare is 
thereby passed to the next player to the left. 

Pass Out of Turn Defined 

39. A pass is out of turn: 

(a) If made before Dealer declares; 

(b) If made (after Dealer declares) by any 
player except in turn. 


121 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


Pass Out of Turn Penalized 

40. After a pass out of turn: 

(a) If the opponent at the left of the offending 
player declare 1 before attention is called to the 
error, the pass is accepted as regular. 

(b) If an opponent call attention to the error, 
the pass is void and the player whose turn it 
was, when the error was made resumes the de¬ 
claration but the offending player may not 
thereafter bid double or redouble unless the 
declaration he passed be over-bid doubled or re¬ 
doubled 


Illegitimate Declarations 

41 (a) A bid double or redouble made after 

the declaration is ended is not penalized if made 
by Declarer or his partner But should the error 
be committed by an adversary Declarer may call 
a lead from the partner of the offending player 
the first time it is the turn of said partner to lead. 

(b) When a player who has been debarred 
from bidding or doubling either bids, doubles or 
redoubles either opponent may decide whether 
or not such bid double or redouble stand; and in 

1 See footnote to Law 29, which provides that a pass is a declaration. 


122 




AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


either case both the offending player and his 
partner must thereafter pass 

(c) A pass after the declaration is ended is 

void 

Declaring and Changing 

42. If a player pass, bid double or redouble, 
and then attempt to change 1 to some other form 
of declaration or attempt to change the size of a 
sufficient bid, such attempted change may be 
penalized as a bid out of turn 2 

Repeated Errors 

43 When any player commits an error for 
which a penalty is provided in Laws 32, 34, 37, 40, 
41, or 42 at a time when an error has previously 
been committed under those laws for which the 
penalty has not already been fully paid; 

(a) If the previous error was committed by 
the other side, the penalty for it (or as much as 
remains unpaid) is canceled and the side newly in 
error is liable for the penalty provided for the new 
offense; 

(b) If the previous error was committed by 

1 A player who inadvertently says “No Bid,” meaning to say 
“No Trump” or vice versa; or who inadvertently says "Spade,” “Heart,” 
“Diamond” or “Club,” meaning to name another of these; may correct 
his mistake, provided the next player has not declared. “Inadvertently” 
refers to a slip of the tongue, not a change of mind. 

2 Unless it be an attempt to change the third or fourth consecutive 
pass which closes the declaration (Law 29). 


123 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


the same side, the opponents, after consultation, 
may elect which error to penalize. 

Cards Exposed During Declaration 

44. If, during the declaration, 1 any player 
lead or expose 2 a card, such card must be left face 
upward on the table an' the partner of the player 
in error must thereafter pass whenever it is his 
turn to declare. 

If the player later becomes Declarer or 
Dummy, the card in question is no longer exposed; 
otherwise it remains an exposed card until played. 

If the player on the left of the player in error 
later become Declarer he may, on the first trick, 
forbid a lead of the suit of the exposed card. 3 

Contract and Declarer 

45. With the completion of the declaration, 
the side which has made the highest bid assumes a 
contract to win at least the number of odd tricks 4 
named in said bid; the partner of that side who 
first named the suit or No Trump specified in 
said bid is Declarer. 

1 Law 29 specifies when the declaration begins and ends. 

2 Law 61 defines exposed cards. 

3 When two or more cards are exposed, all are subject to the pro¬ 
visions of Law 44, .but the Declarer may not forbid the lead of more than 
three suits. 

4 Law 9 provides that Declarer whose contract fails, scores nothing 
for tricks. 


124 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


For every trick Declarer falls short of his con¬ 
tract, the adversaries score 50 points in their 
honor-score for undertricks. All tricks won by 
adversaries beyond their “book” are undertricks. 
The adversaries’ book is the number of the bid 
subtracted from seven. Declarer’s book is his 
first six tricks. In case of a double, the under¬ 
tricks count 100 each; in case of redouble they 
count 200 each. 

When there is a double and Declarer fulfils his 
contract, he counts in his honor-score a bonus 
of 50 points; and a further bonus of 50 points 
for each trick, if any, that he wins beyond the 
number called for by the contract. When there 
is a redouble, these bonuses are 100 points each 
instead of 50. 1 


The Play 

46. After the declaration, the play proceeds 
according to Law 5. Until the initial lead has 
been legally made, Declarer’s partner is not 
subject to any of the limitations 2 imposed upon 
Dummy. 

Dummy 

47. As soon as the initial lead is legally made, 
Declarer’s partner places his cards face upward 

1 These bonuses are in addition to the increased trick score, 
see Law 10. 

2 Except consultation as to the penalty provided in Law 54 (a). 

125 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


on the table and becomes Dummy 1 Declarer 
plays Dummy s cards as well as his own Dummy 
takes no parts in the play and has no rights except 
as provided in Laws 48 and 49 

Dummy’s Rights (Unconditional) 

48. Dummy always has the right: 

(a) To call attention to the fact that too 
many or too few cards have been played to a trick. 

(b) To call attention to the fact that the 
wrong side has gathered in a trick. 

(c) To ask Declarer whether he have any of 
a suit he has refused 2 

(d) To correct an error in the score 

(e) To participate in the discussion of any 
disputed question of fact after it has arisen be¬ 
tween Declarer and an adversary 

(f) To correct an improper claim of either 
adversary 

(g) To assist Declarer as allowed by Law 
54 j 

Dummy’s Rights (Conditional) 

49 If Dummy have not intentionally looked 
at a card held by any player, he has the following 
additional rights: 

(h) To claim an adverse revoke 

1 “Dummy” is sometimes used in the obvious sense of dummy’s 

cards. 

S“ Refuse” is defined in footnote to Law 7. 


126 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


(i) To call attention to an adverse lead out of 
turn. 

(j) To call attention to a card exposed by an 
adversary. 

(k) To call Declarer’s attention to any right 
he may have under the laws. 

(l) To suggest playing out the hand when 
Declarer would concede any of the remaining 
tricks (Law 59-b). 

Dummy Penalized 

50. (m) Should Dummy call attention to 

any matter involving a right of Declarer or a 
penalty incurred by the adversaries, said matter 
not being covered by Law 48, paragraphs (a) to 

(g) ; or should he, after having intentionally looked 
at a card held by any player, seek to exercise any 
of the rights mentioned in Law 49, paragraphs 

(h) to (1); then such right or penalty is canceled 
and may not be exercised or exacted. 

(n) Should Dummy, by touching a card or 
otherwise, suggest a play by Declarer; either ad¬ 
versary may require Declarer to make such play 
(if legal) or to refrain from making it. 

(o) Should Dummy warn Declarer that he is 
about to lead from the wrong hand, either adver¬ 
sary may designate the hand from which Declarer 
shall lead. 


127 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


Exposed Cards 

51. The following are “exposed” cards— 

(a) Two or more cards led or played simul¬ 
taneously (all are exposed); 

(b) A card dropped face upward on the table, 
even if snatched up so quickly that it cannot be 
named; 

(c) A card dropped elsewhere than on the 
table if the partner see its face; 1 

(d) A card so held by a player that his part¬ 
ner sees any portion of its face ; 2 

(e) A card mentioned by either adversary as 
being in his own or his partner’s hand. 

(f) If an adversary who has legally played to 
the twelfth trick, show his thirteenth card before 
his partner plays his twelfth, the partner’s two 
cards are exposed; 

(g) A card designated by any Law as “ex¬ 
posed.” 


Calling Exposed Cards 


52. After a card has been “exposed” as 
defined in Law 51, it must be left face upward on the 

1 If an adversary throw his cards face upward on the table, they are 
exposed (except as in 59a) and liable to be called ; but if the other adversary 
retain his hand, he cannot be forced to expose it. 

2 The fact that am opponent sees it, does not make it an exposed card. 

128 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


table and Declarer may “call” it (i.e., require 
its owner to lead or play it) 1 at any time when it 
is the owner’s turn to lead play, except when the 
playing of the “called” card would cause the 
holder to renounce. 

Declarer may call an exposed card any num¬ 
ber of times until it may be legally played, but the 
owner may play it even if not called. 

Play of Declarer and Dumm* 

53. A card from Declarer’s hand is not played 
or led until quitted. 2 If Declarer name or touch 
a card in Dummy he must play it. 3 If he touch 
two or more cards simultaneously, he may play 
either. 

Declarer and Dummy are not liable to the 
call of exposed cards. 4 

Leads Out of Turn and Cards Played in Error 

i 

54. (a) After the declaration and before a 
legal initial lead, should the partner of the proper 
leader lead or expose a card, Declarer may either 

1 Declarer and Dummy are not liable (Law 53). 

2 A card is “quitted” when the player no longer touches it. 

3 Unless Declarer say “I arrange,” or words to that effect; or 
unless his touching the card is obviously for the purpose of uncovering a 
partly hidden one or to enable him to get at the card he wishes to play. 

4 But see Law 54 (a). 


129 




AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


call a lead 1 from the proper leader or treat the 
card 2 as ^exposed. Declarer’s partner may call 
Declarer’s attention to the offense but, should 
they consult regarding the penalty, it is canceled. 
Should Declarer’s partner spread any part of 
his hand before Declarer selects the penalty, 
Declarer may not call a lead. 

(b) Should an adversary who has played a 
card which, as against Declarer and Dummy, is a 
winner, lead another of several such winning 
cards without waiting for his partner to play; 
Declarer may require said adversary’s partner to 
win, if he can, the first or any of these tricks, 
after which the remaining card or cards thus led 
are exposed. 

(c) Should the adversaries lead simultane¬ 
ously, the correct lead stands and the other is 
an exposed card. 

(d) Should Declarer lead out of turn either 
from his own hand or Dummy, either adversary 
may direct that the error be rectified, but Declarer 
may not rectify it unless so directed. 

(e) After a lead by Declarer or Dummy, 
should fourth hand play before second hand; 

1 If the player called on to lead a suit have none of it the penalty is 

paid. 

2 Or cards. 


130 




AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


Declarer may require second hand to play his 
highest or lowest card of the suit led, or to win or 
lose the trick. 1 If second hand have none of the 
suit led, Declarer may call his highest of any 
designated suit. If second hand hold none of the 
suit called, the penalty is paid. 

(f) Should Declarer lead from his own or 
Dummy's hand and then play from the other hand 
before second hand plays, fourth hand may play 
before second hand without penalty. 

(g) Should any player (including Dummy) 
lead out of turn and next hand 2 play without claim¬ 
ing the penalty, the lead stands as regular. 

(h) If an adversary lead out of turn, Declarer 
may call a lead as soon as it is the turn of either 
adversary to lead or may treat the card so led as 
exposed. 

(i) If a player (not Dummy) omit playing to 
a trick and then play to a subsequent trick, De¬ 
clarer or either adversary (as the case may be) 
may demand a new deal whenever the error is 
discovered. If no new deal be demanded, the 
surplus card at the end of the hand is considered 
played to the imperfect trick but does not constitute 
a revoke therein. 


1 Except as provided in (f). 

2 Declarer accepts wrong lead if he play next either from his own or 
Dummy's hand. 


131 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


(j) Whenever it is suspected Cthat any of the 
quitted tricks contains more than four cards, 
any player (including Dummy) may count them 
face downward. If any be found to contain a 
surplus card and any player be short, either oppo¬ 
nent may face the trick, select the surplus card 
and restor it to the player who is short; but this 
does not change the ownership of the trick. The 
player who was short is answerable for revoke as 
provided in Law 56 (e). 

Renounce 

55. When a player, having one or more cards 
of the suit led, plays a card of a different suit; 
his act constitutes a renounce. 1 

Revoke Definitions 

56. A renounce (Law 55) becomes a revoke 
and subject to penalty (Law 57): 

(a) When the trick in which it occurs is 
turned and quitted 2 by the rightful winners, ex¬ 
cept as provided in^Law 58 (c); 

(b) When the renouncing player or his 
partner, whether in turn or otherwise, leads or 
plays to the following trick; 

1 See also “refuse,” Law 7, footnote. 

2 A trick is “quitted” when it is turned and the player no longer 
touches it. 


132 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


(c) When one side having claimed a revoke 
either opponent mixes the cards before the claimant 
has had reasonable opportunity to examine them. 

(d) When a player has incurred a penalty 
requiring him to play the highest or lowest of a 
suit, or to win or lose a trick, or to lead a certain 
suit, or to refrain from playing a certain suit, and 
fails to act as directed when able to do so; he 
incurs the revoke penalty. 

(e) If at any time a player be found to have 
less than his correct number of cards, and the 
other three have their correct number; the missing 
card or cards, if found (see also Laws 27-e and 54-j), 
belong to the player 1 who is short, and unless he 
be Dummy, he is answerable for any revoke or 
revokes as if the missing card or cards had been in 
his hand continuously. 


Revoke Penalty 


57. The penalty for each revoke is: 

(a) When Declarer revokes, he cannot score 
for tricks and his adversaries, in addition to any 

1 The fact that such player made no claim of irregularity at the time 
of the deal is conclusive, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, that the 
missing cards were dealt to him. 


133 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


bonus for undertricks, 1 add 50 points to their 
honor-score for each revoke. 

(b) When either adversary revokes, Declarer 
for the first revoke may either score 50 points in 
his honor-score or take two tricks 2 from his ad¬ 
versaries and add them to his own. 3 Such tricks 
may assist Declarer to make good his contract, 
but shall not entitle him to any further bonus 4 
in the honor-score by reason of the bid having 
been doubled or redoubled; nor to a Slam or Little 
Slam not otherwise obtained. For each revoke 
after the first, Declarer adds 50 points to his 
honor-score. 

(c) The value of honors as held is the only 
score that can be made by a revoking side unless 
both sides revoke; if one side revoke more than 
once, the other scores 50 for each extra revoke. 

Revoke Avoided 

58. A renounce (Law 55) may be corrected, 
and the revoke (Law 57) avoided, under the 
following circumstances: 

1 The fact that Declarer revokes does not permit adversaries to 
score for undertricks, provided Declarer has won (even with the help of 
the revoke) at least the number of tricks called for by his contract. 

2 The value of the two tricks-undoubled, doubled or redoubled as 
the case may be—is counted in the trick score. 

3 Dummy may advise Declarer which penalty to exact. 

4 They may enable him to win a game and, if that game end the 
rubber, give him the 250 points bonus. 


134 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


(a) If made by Dummy, the renounce may be 
corrected before the trick is turned and quitted. 
After the trick has been turned and quitted, 
whether by the rightful winners or otherwise, the 
renounce may not be corrected. In neither case is 
there any penalty. 

(b) A renouncing player, other than Dummy, 
may not correct his error (except as in c) after 
the trick is turned and quitted nor after he or his 
partner has led or played to the following trick. 
If the correction be made in time, there is no 
revoke penalty; but the player in error (except 
as in e) may be required to play his highest or 
lowest card of the suit led. Any player, who 
played after the renounce, may withdraw his card 
and substitute another. 

(c) If, before the trick is turned and quitted, 
the partner of the renouncing player ask him 
whether he have any 1 of the suit refused, sub¬ 
sequent turning and quitting does not establish 
a revoke until the renouncing player has answered 
in the negative, or until he or his partner has led or 
played to the following trick. 

(d) If the renouncing player be an adversary 
and the renounce be corrected in time, Declarer 

1 Or none. 


135 




AUCTION BRIDGE I.N TEN LESSONS 


instead of calling the highest or lowest may treat 
the card played in error as exposed. 

(e) The highest or lowest may not be called 
from Declarer unless the adversary to his left 
have played to the trick after the renounce. 

(f) Should Dummy leave the table after re¬ 
questing protection from revokes 1 , Declarer can¬ 
not be penalized, following a renounce, unless an 
adversary in due time call the renounce to his 
attention. 

(g) The revoke penalty cannot be claimed 
after the next ensuing cut (Law 25); nor, if the 
revoke occur during the last hand of a rubber, 
after the score has been agreed upon; nor if there 
have been a draw for any purpose in connection 
with the next rubber (e.g., as in Law 23). 

Claiming and Conceding Tricks 

59. (a) If Declarer say “1 have the rest,” 

or any words indicating the remaining tricks or any 
number thereof are his; either adversary may 
require him to place his cards face upward on the 
table and play out the hand. Declarer cannot 
then take any finesse, not previously proven a 

iSometimes called “courtesies of the table.” 


136 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


winner, 1 unless he announced it when making his 
claim; nor may he call any cards either adversary 
has exposed. 

(b) If Declarer concede one or more tricks, 
and either adversary accept the concession before 
Dummy lawfully demands that the hand be played 
out (Law 49-L), such trick or tricks belong to 
adversaries even though, had the hand been played 
out, Declarer could not have lost them. 

(c) If an adversary concede a trick or tricks 
to Declarer, and such concession be accepted before 
the other adversary objects, it is binding on both 
adversaries. 

Penalties and Consultation 

60. Laws which give “eithe'r partner,” “either 
opponent,” etc., the right to exact a penalty do not 
permit consultation. 

(a) If either partner suggest or name a penal¬ 
ty he is deemed to have selected it. 

(b) If either direct the other to select a 
penalty, the latter must do so; and, if an attempt 
be made to refer the privilege back, the penalty is 
canceled. 

1 “Proven a wiftner" means that the adversary who plays last to 
the trick in which the finesse is to be taken, has previously refused that 
suit; the fact that a finesse in the same suit has previously won is not 

enough. 


137 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


(c) If either says (in effect), “Which of us 
is to select the penalty?” the penalty is canceled. 

(d) A proper penalty once selected may not 
be changed. 

(e) If a wrong penalty be selected, 1 the selec¬ 
tion must be corrected upon the request of either 
opponent. 

(f) If a wrong penalty be selected and paid 
without challenge, the selection may not be 
changed. 

(g) A reasonable time must be allowed for the 
selection of a penalty, and the selection must be 
made within a reasonable time. 

(h) If, instead of exacting a penalty at the 
proper time, either opponent of the side in error 
play or declare, no penalty may be exacted. 

Information 

61. (a) During the declaration, information 

must be given concerning its details up to that time, 
but, after it is ended, should either adversary or 
Dummy inform his partner regarding any detail 
of the declaration except the contract, Declarer 
or either adversary (as the case may be) may call 
a lead the next time it is the turn of the offending 
side to lead. At any time during the play, any 

1 If the “penalty” selected be something not described in the Laws, 
no penalty may be exacted. 


138 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


player inquiring must be informed what the 
contract is. 

(b) Any player except Dummy may, before a 
trick is turned and quitted, demand that the cards 
so far played before their respective players; 
but should either adversary, in the absence of such 
demand, in any way call attention to his own card 
or to the trick, Declarer may require the partner 
of the offender to play his highest or lowest card 
of the suit led, or to win or lose the trick. 

(c) Either adversary, but not Dummy (Law 
50-o) may call his partner’s attention to the fact 
that he is about to play or lead out of turn; but 
if, during the play, an adversary make any unau¬ 
thorized reference to any incident thereof, or to 
the location of any card, Declarer may call the 
next lead when it becomes an adversary’s turn. 1 

(d) If before or during the declaration a 
player give any unauthorized information con¬ 
cerning his hand, his partner may be barred from 
subsequent participation in the declaration. 

(e) The penalty for looking at quitted tricks 
(except -where the Law r s permit examination) 
is 25 points in the adverse honor-score for each 
offense. 

1 Any such reference by Dummy, may be similarly penalized by 
either adversary. 


139 



AUCTION BRIDGE IN TEN LESSONS 


New Cards 

62. One new pack must be produced to re¬ 
place an incorrect one, Law 27 (e) or an imperfect 
one, Law 28 (g). Otherwise, when new cards are 
demanded, two packs must be furnished and the 
opponents of the player demanding them have 
the choice, unless the demand be made at the 
beginning of a rubber, in which case Dealer has 
the choice. 

Except under Laws 27 (e) and 28 (g), new 
cards may not be introduced during a deal. (See 
Law 26 (a.) 


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